


What comes after

by orphan_account



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, F/M, M/M, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-31
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-05-30 08:07:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 48
Words: 33,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6415675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world has ended. One day people woke up to no satellites, no TV, no internet, no radio, and no explanation of what had happened. It didn't take long for society to deteriorate after that.</p><p> </p><p>Meanwhile, in this new world, the Starks try to find each other while desperately trying not to lose what makes them human.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

Prologue

 

The world has ended. One day people woke up to no satellites, no TV, no internet, no radio, and no explanation of what had happened. It didn't take long for society to deteriorate after that.

 

Panic, riots, violence, and mass suicides led to the deaths of over half of the global population. Basic services disappeared, nature reclaimed the cities, and people ran behind walls to keep them and their friends and families safe, with little regard for anyone else. Those who couldn't find shelter usually died.

 

Darwinism was what ensued. The strong preyed upon the weak, and if you were young, elderly, or sickly, you needed someone strong to protect you.

 

Starvation and disease killed even more people after that. Even more died from being too cold or too hot, as there was no electricity left to heat them up or cool them down.

 

The ones who did survive were the ones who killed or stole or returned to primal savagery. People forgot what it was like to be civilised.

 

And all of this happened only over six months.

 

Meanwhile, a man named Eddard Stark lingers around his home with his brother and his best friend, all hoping that one day they will find their wayward families...

 

 

 

 

 


	2. A New Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I suppose this is where the fic begins! Thank you for taking the time to read this.
> 
> Whether this becomes a short 10-chapter fic or a grand 100-chapter story depends both on how well this goes and also on self-motivation. I intend to update as often as possible, and I hope that I get to write this for a while. I've been planning this story for a while and can't wait to type this all out :D

Eddard

 

Ned and Howland were sitting in silence in the front garden of Ned's old house. The house itself was in relatively good condition as the three of them had been living in it for the past six months. The garden, however, was full of overgrown grass and wilting flowers. It was always Cat's hobby to tend the garden. But now she's gone, just like the rest of his family.

 

The apocalypse had poor timing. The moment the world went downhill, Ned's family were scattered all over the place. Cat was at work when it happened. Ned had figured that she and the children would make their way back here, back home. But after six months this looked increasingly unlikely. To be honest, the only reason they stayed was out of habit.

 

"Ned! Howland!", Benjen called from down the street, "I need some help scavenging from one of the houses! We need more food!", he shouted.

 

"I'll help you!", Ned responded before Howland. Ned had been meaning to have a private conversation with Benjen for a while now.

 

By the time Ned had made it over to his brother, Benjen had already busted the lock on the front door.

 

"We're running out of food", Benjen said.

 

"Seven hells", Ned muttered, rubbing his temples.

 

"What's wrong?", Benjen inquired.

 

"The other day Howland said that we're running out of water as well", Ned replied.

 

Benjen cursed under his breath. "We haven't had a good rain in weeks. And this is the last house that we haven't picked clean", Benjen said, gesturing toward said house.

 

For the past six months, the trio had been living off of the supplies that they found in Ned's neighbourhood, which wasn't much. After the water and electricity went down, most of the people in the neighbourhood left, but Ned and Howland had stayed behind to wait for their respective families. Benjen had arrived later on, and offered to stay with his brother.

 

"I'd be surprised if we find anything good here", Ned thought out loud, "a man can only live off of canned food for so long", he joked.

 

"True", Benjen chuckled, "but that's all we got here". Something seemed to flash across Benjen's expression at that moment, but it went away too quickly for Ned to pinpoint what it was.

 

This was Rodrik Cassel's house, Ned knew. He had been a good neighbour. Rodrik was always friendly with Ned's family. His daughter Beth had been friends with Sansa, and Jory always came over for barbecues.

 

It hurt Ned to raid his friends' houses like this, but he tried not to think about it too much. Once Howland had found Ned crying in Poole's house after he had spotted a picture of their daughter Jeyne with Sansa at one of her high school dances. It had just reminded him too much of his missing family at that moment.

 

Ever since then, it had made Ned wonder if staying here was a good idea or not. He was clinging onto a past that was already lost. That was what Ned had wanted to talk to Benjen about.

 

"Hey, Ben", Ned began, clearing his throat.

 

"Did you find something?", Benjen asked excitedly, but immediately frowned when Ned shook his head.

 

"No, it's just that... uh, well, I need to talk to you", Ned clarified.

 

"About?"

 

"Us. Living here, I mean", Ned went on, "do you think that it's a good idea?".

 

"Ned, your family...  _our_ family..."

 

"...they're not coming", Ned finished for him, "I know that. I've accepted that. We should leave tomorrow after we get some rest. There's no food left here, and there's no water. There has to be some place better than this. There  _must_ be", Ned said almost as if he was trying to convince himself.

 

"Do you want to talk to Howland about it, or should I?", Benjen conceded.

 

"I'll do it", Ned offered.

 

"Alright. I'll keep looking around here", Benjen finished.

 

Ned walked back outside and over to exactly were he had left Howland.

 

"Hey, buddy", Ned said.

 

"What's up?", Howland replied casually.

 

Ned took a deep breath. "We're leaving tomorrow", he revealed.

 

That got Howland's attention. "What?!", he exclaimed, sitting up in his chair.

 

"I know that you want to find your family Howland. Trust me, I do. I wish that Meera and Jojen were here, but they're not coming. Neither is my wife, or my own children. It hurts to admit it, but we aren't doing them any favours by staying here. We should find somewhere else for us to live, where there's more people. That way we can have a place for our family to come to. A place where they can actually live. Hells, we may even find them on our travels".

 

"Ok", Howland replied after a long silence.

 

"Is that it?", Ned questioned, surprised since he was expecting more of an argument.

 

"Yep".

 

"Are you sure?"

 

"I'm sure, Ned. You're right. We should leave tomorrow", Howland assured.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Leaving was a mistake. They were nearly dying of thirst, they were running out of food, and their patience was rapidly running out, too.

 

Each place they found was worse than the last. All were uninhabitable for some reason or another, so the three of them never stayed in one place for too long. Howland had once suggested going back home, but Benjen insisted that they keep going forward.

 

On the third day, things finally started to seem worth it.

 

"Ned", Howland spoke with a hoarse voice through dry, cracked lips.

 

"Yeah?"

 

"If I die, promise me that you'll look after my children, if you ever find them".

 

"What?!", Ned responded.

 

"Take care of them like they're your own. Promise me, Ned".

 

"I promise", Ned promised. And he meant it. "But don't give up just yet. We'll all make it".

 

Howland nodded, obviously unconvinced. However, Ned didn't have the energy to press further.

 

"Look!", Benjen suddenly said.

 

Ned and Howland ran to the top of the hill where Benjen was taking point.

 

They saw what Benjen saw. Finally, a place where they could be safe. It had fences, shelter, good vision in all directions, and it was discreet enough so that raiders would rarely come knocking, if at all. This trainyard wasn't even on their map.

 

It was a small trainyard, with one warehouse and surrounded by tracks with half a dozen carriages flanking the main building. From what they could see there was only one entrance, and the warehouse was large enough to fit fifty people. If only they had that many.

 

"It's perfect", Ned breathed. This was a place where he could raise his family. All he had to do now was find them.


	3. The Old World

Sansa

 

Here they were: back at Sansa's old house. Finally, after having to navigate through an entire city of people who wanted her dead or worse, she had finally made it home.

 

She was at school when it all happened. She couldn't find any of her family, so she figured that they all must have gone home. Sansa had left the city with two others, but now it was just her and Jeyne Poole, her best friend.

 

"We're here", Sansa breathed in relief, "finally".

 

Jeyne suddenly hugged Sansa and cried into her shoulder. Sansa was shocked for a moment, but quickly brought her hands up to soothe her friend.

 

"Shh, it's ok, I'm here", Sansa hushed, "what's wrong?".

 

"It's just that... we tried so hard to get here", Jeyne sniffled, "we lost Beth along the way... and now nobody's even here".

 

"Don't say that", Sansa responded, "look", she pointed at her house, "my house looks clean. Looks like someone has been here recently; maybe they're coming back", she reassured both herself and her friend.

 

"But look at my house, Sansa", Jeyne said, looking at the house right next door. Sansa could already see what she meant. Cobwebs, shattered windows, and rotting wood dotted the building.

 

"Maybe your mother and father got away. Maybe they're with mine", Sansa tried, but it didn't seem to work. Jeyne went over to sit down in the chair in Sansa's front garden.

 

"I just need some time alone for a minute", Jeyne muttered.

 

"Ok", Sansa replied.

 

Sansa decided to look around the neighbourhood for anything useful. They both still had plenty of water, but they were dangerously low on food.

 

Unfortunately, most of the houses were already looted by some unknown person. She liked to think that her family had been living here, and that they would come back any minute now.

 

It didn't seem like they would, though. From experience, waiting for people to show up was a great way to lose the people you already had. Sansa and Jeyne knew that all too well.

 

They would stay here for the night, and then move on in the morning.

 

For now, though, they needed food. Sansa looked into the woods surrounding her old suburban neighbourhood, and contemplated with the idea of hunting for food. But all she had was a small pistol, and not enough bullets for her to waste on some squirrels. She supposed that they would just have to go hungry for tonight.

 

Sansa began to make her way back to Jeyne, on the way thinking about where else they could go. There were a few places, but most of them were likely already taken by bad people who would try to rape or kill them.

 

There was one place that they could try. It was an old summer camp by a lake not too far from here. Sansa and Jeyne had gone their with some other girls on a school trip a few years ago. It had cabins, water, food, and its own generators. It was worth a shot, at least.

 

Suddenly, Sansa heard a rustling from the trees behind her. Sansa spun on her heel and pointed her gun in the general direction of the noise.

 

"Come out!", Sansa meant to demand aggressively, but her voice came out weak and shaky.

 

Two figures emerged from the treeline, one man and one woman, about Sansa's age. They both had chestnut brown hair, and were dressed in ragged clothes. On their faces were frightened expressions. These people were just as scared of Sansa as she was scared of them.


	4. Flowers

Margaery

 

Garlan, Margaery, Loras, and Willas walked in a straight line down the road, the first three carrying weapons while the latter hobbled along behind them on his cane.

 

"Guys, wait", Willas said, out of breath, "I need a moment".

 

"We can't stop here", Garlan replied, "we're too exposed".

 

"Come on, Will", Margaery tried to pep up her brother, "just a little further, ok?".

 

"Ok".

 

They walked on for a bit further until they found a gas station. Loras and Garlan made sure that it was clear while Margaery waited for her eldest brother to catch up.

 

It wasn't fair what had happened to Willas. One day they were all happy, living life almost as it was before the end of days. But then on a supply run, some assholes in a truck rammed Willas' car, crushing his leg.

 

Later on, those same guys came to their gated community and burned it all down, taking prisoners and all of their supplies. They had killed mother, father, and grandmother too. After that, the four siblings had to make it on their own. At first surviving was difficult, especially with Willas' injury, but at least they never made the mistake of trusting strangers. It was lonely at times, but it kept them alive.

 

Loras and Garlan came back out of the gas station at the same time that Willas caught up to them.

 

"How's your leg?", Garlan asked.

 

"I'm so sorry, guys. I can't walk anymore today", Willas apologised.

 

"Hey, that's fine", Margaery said, "we're not leaving you behind".

 

Loras and Garlan exchanged a look which Margaery didn't like.

 

"Isn't that right, guys?", Margaery pressed at the two younger brothers.

 

"Yeah, of course", Loras answered, but even Willas seemed to hear the uncertainty in the response.

 

A deafening silence ensued for a long minute. Margaery stared down both Loras and Garlan until one of them caved in.

 

"Margaery, can we talk?", Loras asked.

 

"We  _are_ talking", Margaery replied stubbornly.

 

"In private", Garlan backed Loras up.

 

"Fine", she conceded.

 

The three of them walked away until Willas was out of earshot. From the look on his face, Margaery knew that he knew they were talking about him.

 

"We can't stay", Garlan began.

 

"Why not?", Margaery hissed.

 

Garlan pulled a note from his pocket. "We found this inside the gas station", he explained.

 

Margaery read it:  _owned property, all strangers will be shot on sight_.

 

"Oh", Margaery muttered.

 

"Somebody already owns this place", Loras whispered, "he's obviously not here right now, but he's coming back".

 

"What about Willas?", Margaery asked.

 

"I don't know", Garlan answered honestly.

 

"We're not leaving him behind", Margaery stated.

 

"But we can't stay", Loras pointed out.

 

"Are we sure that he can't walk any further?", Garlan asked.

 

"This is the seventh time he's had to stop today", Margaery replied, "I don't think he can go any further".

 

"Can we carry him?", Loras suggested.

 

"We won't get far", Garlan responded, "and we can't stop somewhere out in the open. We need to find a place with shelter, and we don't know what's ahead. If we carry him, we might find somewhere, but if not then we could all die".

 

The dilemma made them all think for nearly half an hour for what they should do. After a while they included Willas into the conversation, but to no avail. They had no ideas.

 

"We could just stay", Loras gave one last suggestion, "and kill whoever owns this place whenever they get back".

 

"We don't know how many of these guys there are. It could be one, or it could be twenty. We can't take that chance", Margaery replied.

 

Garlan suddenly stood up from where they were sitting, impatiently strutting about, "we can't be too indecisive. If we don't make a decision soon then we may be forced to confront these guys", he said, "this is your last chance to share any ideas".

 

Everyone was silent.

 

"Fine", Garlan broke the silence, "I'll make the decision. It's still midday, so Margaery and Loras will keep going ahead to see if they find anything. If not, then come back before sunset. If you don't come back, Willas and I will assume that you've found a place, and we'll follow tomorrow morning".

 

"But what about the guys who own this place?", Margaery argued.

 

Garlan pulled his gun from his jeans. "If they try to hurt us, I'll kill them", he said with determination.

 

"Are you sure about this?", Loras had to ask.

 

"Yes", he assured, "now go. There's only so much daylight left".

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Margaery and Loras stumbled across a forest. Daylight was running out, so they ought to be going back, but something inside of them made them carry on.

 

"Do you think they're alright?", Loras inquired.

 

"I'm sure that they're fine", Margaery gave him her signature Tyrell smile. She bent over to pick up some flowers from the ground: daffodils. She gave them to her brother. "Try not to think about it".

 

"Come out!", a stranger's voice suddenly shouted at them from beyond the trees.

 

Both Margaery and Loras grabbed their guns and got ready for a fight, but when they emerged all they saw was a timid girl, a little bit younger than them, who didn't look like she had it in her to kill a fly.

 

The siblings looked at each other and nodded. This was finally someone that they could safely trust.


	5. Open fire

Renly

 

Renly couldn't help but smile at the fact that he was safe. He was infinitely more fortunate than so many others in this new world, and he knew it. Being surrounded by dozens of men armed to the teeth, travelling down the roads in trucks, killing any raiders that tried to rob them... these were things that Renly would never take for granted.

 

"What is it?", his niece, Shireen, suddenly asked from the seat beside him.

 

"What?", Renly replied.

 

"Why are you smiling?", she asked.

 

"Oh", Renly nodded, smile growing wider, "I'm just glad that we're all here. You, me, your father, and everyone else".

 

"Me too", Shireen smiled back.

 

Renly then went back to his own thoughts. Of course, he was happy to be alive, but the things he had done to be alive... the things that they had all done...

 

But no, he would not think about those unspeakable acts. However, they always seemed to creep back into his mind. He tried to justify them.  _You did what you had to do_.  _Those people were evil_.  _This is what it takes to stay alive_. Those were the phrases he repeated to himself at night so that he could sleep. Renly reasoned that being a large group with guns, food, and vehicles made you a target these days.

 

Their most recent victims, though... they hadn't been a threat. They weren't necessarily evil. They didn't need to kill them to stay alive.

 

However, they had been trespassing on their property. Renly had even left a note at that gas station, yet they were-

 

Renly was suddenly pulled from his thoughts by the convoy coming to a sudden halt on a bridge. He opened his door to ask why they were stopped.

 

That was a mistake.

 

From all directions, their entire convoy was lit up with gunfire.

 

"Shit!"

 

"Fuck!"

 

"Get to cover!"

 

"There's too many!"

 

"Help! I'm hit!"

 

"I think I see- arrrgh!"

 

Renly listened to the screams of his friends as they all died. Meanwhile, he cowered in the backseat of his truck with Shireen, covering her so that she didn't get hit.

 

More screams. More blood. More gunfire. The intensity of it all made Renly cry like a baby.

 

Eventually, he was pulled out of the car.

 

"Don't kill me, please!", he begged.

 

"It's me, Renly", he heard Davos' voice, "is Shireen ok?".

 

Shireen came running out of the car and hugged Davos.

 

"Are you ok?", Davos hugged her back.

 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Uncle Renly protected me", Shireen answered.

 

"That's good", Davos said, mouthing thanks to Renly.

 

Davos put Shireen back into the truck and told her to wait. He then took Renly out of earshot to speak with him.

 

"What in the seven hells happened?", Renly started.

 

"I don't know", Davos answered honestly, "might have been an ambush. We've fought them back for now, at least".

 

"Where's Stannis?", Renly asked next.

 

As if on cue, the sound of coughing came from behind one of the other trucks.

 

They went to investigate, and found Stannis laying against the truck, littered with bullets and coughing up blood.

 

Stannis saw them, and then said, "look after Shireen. Protect her like I would".

 

"We'll find help, Stannis. We'll fix you up", Renly said.

 

Stannis laughed. That was probably the first laugh that Renly had heard from him in years. "I'm dead, Renly. You're not. Make sure my daughter isn't either".

 

Renly nodded, fighting back against the tears welling up in his eyes and the sobs bubbling in his chest.

 

"One more thing", Stannis addressed them, "be better men than I was".

 

"What do you mean?", Davos asked.

 

"All of the people we killed. They didn't deserve to die", Stannis clarified, "especially that most recent group".

 

"That old woman leading them threatened us", Davos pointed out.

 

"We threatened her first. Not to mention that we also crippled her grandson in that crash", Stannis countered, "they didn't deserve to die. Don't be like me. Find a group, and live with them. Help them. Be better men, and find somewhere safe for my daughter. It's not safe on the roads anymore", he rambled.

 

"Where would we go?", Renly asked, "everywhere we've found is either taken or unsafe".

 

Stannis pulled some papers out of his pocket. He opened his mouth to speak, but instead took his last breath.

 

Renly took the papers. One was a map, another an explanation. It led to a place called 'The Eyrie'. Apparently it was the last holdout of the government, and that it was a sanctuary for everyone. It had food, water, and it was up in the mountains so it was defensible.

 

Davos and Renly went around the bridge to check if anyone else was alive. But they were alone. Davos found all of his sons dead, and all of the men and women that they had once called friends were dead too.

 

They mourned for the night, but in the morning they left with as many rifles as they could carry.


	6. The Hunt

Robb

 

He rested his cheek against the rifle and peered through the scope, lining it up with the deer in front of him. He had already caught a rabbit on this hunt, but he had many mouths to feed and he could not pass up this opportunity.

 

Slowly exhaling, Robb put his finger on the trigger and squeezed. The deer in front of him fell lifeless to the ground.

 

Robb went over to claim his prize, but Theon made it there first.

 

"My kill", Theon said smugly.

 

"What are you talking about? I shot it", Robb retorted.

 

"Look again, Stark", Theon smirked. Robb humoured him and looked at the deer. Funnily enough, an arrow was sticking through its neck, just above the bullet hole that Robb had put in its heart.

 

"Fine, but I shot it first", Robb indulged in the banter.

 

"If you say so", Theon laughed.

 

The two of them hoisted the deer up from each side and began carrying it back to the others. Robb spotted the two rabbits that Theon had in his bag. Theon always delighted in the fact that he was a better hunter than everyone else, so he had to one-up the others every chance he got. If Robb caught one rabbit, Theon had to catch two. If Robb caught three, Theon had to get four.

 

Robb hoped that Meera had better success than Theon, but after getting a deer it was unlikely, unless Meera somehow caught two.

 

"Probably another week until we make it home", Robb said, "we'll find my father, Sansa, and Arya, and then we'll find somewhere safe. Preferably someplace where we don't have to live on rainwater and acorns", he joked.

 

"We might even be able to make your home safe", Theon responded, "it's surrounded by forest, and it's pretty secluded, so we could fortify the roads around it and set up traps in the woods. We'll hunt for food, and-"

 

Theon dropped his end of the deer and immediately pulled an arrow from his quiver.

 

"Wha-?!", Robb began to say, but was stopped by a sharp blow to his head.

 

Robb fell to the floor, with the deer falling on top of him. He then heard something getting stabbed. Robb gathered his wits in time to see a ragged bearded man on top of him, with his knife plunged into the deer's carcass. Robb made a quick, silent thanks to the gods that the knife found the deer and not him.

 

The next moment, an arrow was loosed into the man's heart; killing him.

 

Theon came over and pulled both the man and the deer off of Robb, asking if he was alright.

 

He didn't give an answer. Instead he picked up his rifle and aimed it at the equally ragged woman hiding behind a tree with a spear.

 

"Come out! We won't hurt you", Robb barked.

 

"How can I trust you?", the woman said back.

 

"You don't have much of a choice", Theon snarked, notching another arrow.

 

The woman threw her spear to the side and put her hands up in surrender. Theon went over and used his belt to bind her hands.

 

"Are there more of you?!", Robb questioned. She shook her head.

 

"Why did you attack us?", Theon hissed into her ear.

 

"You had food", she replied simply.

 

Robb exchanged a look with Theon. One that said:  _let's take her back to the others, and decide what to do with her later_.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

It was near sunset by the time they made it back to the camp. Jojen and Meera came over to help with the deer, while Bran and Rickon stood there staring at the woman prisoner that they had taken earlier.

 

Robb went over to his girlfriend Jeyne and caught her as she leapt into his arms.

 

She kissed him and he kissed her back. But when she pulled away she slapped him across the face.

 

"What was that for?", Robb asked, rubbing his cheek.

 

"You took too long. We were starting to get worried", she stated. Robb laughed and kissed her again, nearly taking her into his tent until he remembered that there was still unfinished business for the day.

 

The two of them made their way over to the others, where they were already interrogating the woman.

 

"What's your name?", Meera demanded, her knife pressed to the woman's throat.

 

"Osha", she answered.

 

"Do you have a camp?", Bran asked softly.

 

"I'm alone now, thanks to your friend here", Osha shot a sharp look at Theon.

 

"We should kill her", Theon said.

 

"No!", Bran exclaimed, "she was just hungry. We can't kill her!".

 

Theon looked to the others for backup, but nobody helped him.

 

Robb eventually spoke up. "We'll keep her with us until we find father. He'll know what to do".

 

Theon cursed beneath his breath and stormed off behind the trees.

 

"Don't worry, he'll come back", Robb said, "for now, let's light a fire. It's getting dark, and we need to cook this food". Everyone's mouths watered at the thought of food. They had been living off of whatever they could forage for the past few months, and this deer was the first proper animal that anyone had caught. Rabbits and squirrels were ok, but not nearly enough to fill the stomachs of seven people.

 

By the time Theon came back, the food was cooked. Bran offered Osha a plate, and she gratefully thanked him for it. It was at that moment that Robb decided that he'd probably let Osha live. If they were going to survive, they needed to let other people into their group. 


	7. Night's watch

Jon

 

Both his friend and his girlfriend slept in the gas station while Jon took first watch for the night. Usually they would all sleep, but after they found two recently dead bodies in front of the building the three of them decided that they would take turns keeping watch.

 

Jon spent his part of the night sneaking glances at the other two as they slept. Arya would never admit it, but she totally loved cuddles when she slept. He'd joke with her about it in the morning.

 

He had known Arya for years. Ever since he was a boy he would visit his best friend Robb's house and hang out with all of the Starks. They were all kind and friendly to him, but he got along with Arya and Robb the most. When the apocalypse had hit, Jon had found Arya and promised to protect her.

 

Dany, however, had met Jon after the end of the world. Jon and Arya had found her just after she had killed her brother Viserys. Jon later learnt that Viserys had gone crazy and tried to force himself upon Dany.

 

Any sane person would have shot Dany if they found her like that, or at least would have turned around and walked away. But Jon saw something in her that made him want to help her and bring her with them.

 

That was a good decision. Since then they had fallen in love. Arya also got along very well with Dany. They joked with each other all day, and when Jon had told Arya that him and Dany were a couple she had been happy; happier than he'd seen her in months.

 

Jon started to yawn and his eyelids felt heavy. He went over to the other two and woke up Dany with a kiss and asked if she could take the next watch. She smiled back at him and answered yes.

 

Sleep came difficultly, and by the time he had fallen asleep Dany's watch had ended and Arya had been woken up to replace her. By morning he had only managed to get a couple hours of rest. It didn't help that they had a long day ahead of them.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

They approached the military base with caution. They barely had any weapons to speak of, other than a few knives, and if anyone was still here then they could shoot at the three of them without retaliation.

 

But the closer they got, the more they realised that it was abandoned a long time ago.

 

"Ok, let's see what we find", Jon said.

 

They cut a hole through the fences and crossed the vehicle yard into the main base. Dany found a map on one of the walls, which pointed to an armoury. That was exactly what they needed.

 

"This place looks like it's barely been touched", Dany mused.

 

Jon noticed that, too. He was surprised that nobody else had the idea to loot an empty military base. It made him wonder what had happened to the soldiers here.

 

When they arrived at the armoury its doors were locked.

 

"Son of a bitch!", Jon cursed, kicking the door.

 

"Maybe we can find somewhere else", Dany said.

 

"Where?!", Jon snapped.

 

Dany looked back at him with a stare that could cut steel. Even Arya was giving him the  _'what the fuck did you just say?'_ eyes.

 

"Sorry", Jon immediately apologised, "I'm just a bit cranky. Haven't eaten in days".

 

"None of us have, jerk", Arya snarked.

 

"Arya, it's fine. We can't get into the armoury, so we should look for food. A military base ought to have a canteen, right?", Dany defused the thick tension.

 

They then went into the cafeteria. They had better luck there. The store rooms at the back were overflowing with cans of food and bottles of water. Jon couldn't help but smile at their luck. Even Arya laughed with joy. Jon went to hug Dany, but over her shoulder he saw someone.

 

Jon unsheathed his knife and pointed it at the man. "Who are you?!", he shouted, "were you following us?". Both Arya and Dany had pulled out their knives too.

 

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt", the fat man stammered out, "my name's Sam. What's yours?", he held out his hand.

 

Jon didn't shake it. "What are you doing here?".

 

"I could ask the same of you", he shot back.

 

Jon stared at him for what felt like an eternity before the man explained, "I live here. My father was a general. He was in charge of this base, and I lived here with him. When he was commanded to leave he left me behind".

 

"Just you?", Dany questioned, "forgive me, but it is a bit suspicious that one man would be left behind when everyone else is gone".

 

"Sorry, I didn't catch your name?", Sam asked again.

 

Arya was suddenly on top of him, pressing her knife against his throat. "Listen, prick, we're asking the questions!", she yelled, "who the fuck are you?!".

 

Jon and Dany exchanged a look, but at least the man was now speaking.

 

"My name is Samwell Tarly", he squeaked, "my father is Randyll Tarly. I swear by all seven gods that I'm telling the truth. Please don't kill me!", he began to cry.

 

Arya got off of him. "I think he's telling the truth", she said, shrugging nonchalantly, as if she hadn't nearly just killed a man for no reason.

 

"Do you want to come with us?", Jon offered, "my name's Jon. This is Dany, and that's Arya. We don't have a place, but we take care of each other".

 

Sam stood up and nodded, "thanks. I'd like that".

 

"We should stay here for a while. There's more food than we can carry, and this place seems safe enough. No reason to leave just yet", Jon continued.

 

Arya and Dany set up their sleeping bags in the middle of the cafeteria and began to rest while Jon took Sam around the base looking for anything interesting.

 

"We saw an armoury earlier, but it was locked. Do you happen to have a key?", Jon asked as they walked.

 

Sam smiled, "as a matter of fact, I do", he took the key out of his pocket.

 

Jon finally shook Sam's hand. "You're a lifesaver, Sam. Sorry about earlier, by the way. Arya can get a bit-"

 

"Oh, it's fine. I get the whole 'stranger danger' thing", Sam laughed.

 

"Do you?", Jon bantered.

 

"No, not really. I haven't left this place since this mess has started. Even before that, I didn't have many friends", Sam moped sadly.

 

"Hey", Jon clutched Sam's shoulder, "you're with friends now", he tried to cheer him up.

 

They had stopped right outside the armoury doors. Sam went to unlock it. When it opened, Jon nearly fell backwards in surprise.

 

It was nearly fully stocked. Some of the guns were missing, but there were still dozens of assault rifles, snipers, shotguns, pistols, bulletproof vests... this was much more than the four of them needed.

 

"Let's take four assault rifles for each of us", Jon said while putting on a kevlar vest beneath his shirt, "and four pistols, too. And shotguns as well. I suppose while we're at it, a sniper rifle will do nicely". But Jon had already spotted the real prize: a duffel bag filled with grenades. That could be a real game-changer.

 

"I don't actually know how to shoot a gun", Sam piped up.

 

"Neither do I", Jon responded honestly, "but there's firing range here, right?", Jon asked. Sam nodded. "There you go, then", Jon said, picking up some ammo, "we have plenty of time to learn and practice".

 

The final haul was two M16's for Jon and Dany, a bolt-action sniper for Sam, and pump shotgun for Arya, one pistol each, four bulletproof vests, better combat knives, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and a bag filled with a dozen grenades, twice as many flares, and a few smoke/flash grenades. Even after taking so much, there was easily as much if not more firepower left inside of the armoury that they couldn't carry.

 

They also ate like a pack of hungry wolves, devouring can after can of beans and meat and vegetables, proceeding to get drunk off of some whiskey they found in the officers' rooms. For the first time in a long time, Jon was enjoying himself. He slept well that night.


	8. The South

Catelyn

 

She was dead.  _Her sister_ _was dead_. All because of that worm Petyr Baelish.

 

If he hadn't tried to do those things to Cat one night, then Edmure wouldn't have come in and killed him. And if that hadn't happened then Lysa wouldn't have thrown herself off of that building.

 

Lysa was always an unstable woman, but it was Baelish who pushed her sanity over the edge. For that, Cat would never forgive him. Death was too generous for him. If only Cat could get her hands on him now.

 

After those events last night, both Cat and Ed decided that it was best if neither of them drove. So behind the wheel was Jaime, sitting next to his fiancée Brienne. The Tully siblings had found them on their way to 'the Eyrie', and brought them along with them.

 

The Eyrie was allegedly a safe haven according to Baelish. Cat wondered if it was another one of his tricks, but Cat had to believe that it was real. If her husband had survived, he would have taken the children there.

 

Cat was suddenly pulled from his thoughts by Edmure shouting, "IN THE ROAD!!!"

 

The next thing she knew, their car was overturned and there was a sharp pain in the back of her head.

 

Cat touched the back of her head with her fingers, which came back bloody. _Oh no_ , Cat thought.

 

She then passed out. 

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

She woke up on the side of the road, resting against Jaime's leg with an ice pack pressed to her head. She was still dizzy but she could hear the sounds of Edmure and Brienne yelling at someone.

 

Cat finally gathered her wits and sat up. "You should rest", Jaime said, but she ignored him.

 

Looking around, she saw their car which had been wrecked off of the road, and next to it was a motorbike.

 

In front of Edmure and Brienne was a man so big and monstrous that Cat didn't know how her brother had the bravery to stand up to him.

 

The man's face was burnt all along his left side, leaving distorted, ugly flesh. He stood slightly taller than Brienne, which was a feat on its own, but he was also an absolute brick wall of muscle and strength as well. Cat determined that if he had wanted to, he could have killed them all already.

 

When the shouting had calmed down, the man went over to grab his motorbike while the others came to see if Cat was ok.

 

"Before you ask, I'm fine", Cat began, anticipating the question.

 

"Who is he?", Jaime asked Edmure.

 

"Some biker", Ed shrugged, "stinks of alcohol and piss. His name's Sandor".

 

"Where is he going?", Cat asked.

 

"Don't know", Brienne answered, "seemed like he's just looking for his next drink".

 

All four of them looked in the direction of Sandor, who was now kicking his bike in frustration. He then stormed over to where they were. Cat reached into her belt for her gun, just in case.

 

"You cunts wrecked my bike", he spat, "you owe me. You're taking me with you, to wherever the fuck you're going".

 

"Oh, are we?", Jaime bit back sarcastically.

 

"Yes, pretty man, you are", Sandor wiped the smile off of Jaime's face.

 

"Well, our car is wrecked, too", Edmure pointed out, "none of us are going anywhere".

 

"I can fix it. I used to be a mechanic. My bike's beyond repair, but your car isn't", Sandor replied, "where are you headed, anyway?".

 

"There's a place called The Eyrie. It's a sanctuary up in the mountains", Catelyn explained, using a map to detail exactly where it was, "my name's Catelyn Stark, this is Edmure Tully, Jaime Lannister, and Brienne Tarth", she introduced each of them.

 

"I suppose I'll go with you, then", Sandor nodded.

 

Cat and Edmure took watch while the other three went to work on fixing the car. It was quiet, but they knew that peace and quiet could turn into chaos and disaster at any minute.

 

"Are you ok?", Edmure asked her.

 

"My head doesn't hurt that much anymore", she answered truthfully.

 

Edmure sighed, "that's not what I meant".

 

Catelyn took a deep breath before replying, "I'll live. I just wish that I'd seen what he was before...", she left it at that. There was no reason to go into detail.

 

Suddenly a scream came from over by the car.

 

The Tullys turned around to see Sandor knock Jaime out with one punch, while Brienne bit his left ear off. Sandor threw Brienne over his shoulder, and then kicked her once in the face. He promptly jumped into the car and drove off.

 

Both Catelyn and Edmure drew their weapons and fired at the SUV as it drove away, but to no avail. He was already gone.

 

Jaime and Brienne were fine; just a bit shocked.

 

It would seem that they'd have to find another way to get to The Eyrie.


	9. Brotherhood

Eddard

 

They thought that they had found the perfect place, but the trainyard was already occupied.

 

There was a hilarious moment of awkwardness when Ned, Ben, and Howland walked into the main building where a dozen others were having lunch. The two groups had stared at each other for what felt like a long time until their leader picked up an AK47 and pointed it at them.

 

The rest of them promptly followed, aiming rifles right at them.

 

"Who are you people?", their leader questioned.

 

"We're just looking for a place to stay. We had no idea that you were here. We'll leave right now if you want", Ned answered.

 

"How did you get in?", a balding man with a red jacket spoke at him through the sights of his flare gun.

 

"We cut a hole through the fence", Ned replied.

 

The man in the red jacket quickly left with a handful of wire, presumably to patch up the fence.

 

"Where are your weapons?", their leader asked.

 

"We're unarmed", Ned responded.

 

The man clearly didn't believe him.

 

"Why would we have weapons?", Benjen asked.

 

They exchanged puzzled looks with each other.

 

"Have you been living under a rock or something?", he inquired.

 

"Yeah. I mean, sort of. You're the first survivors we've met", Benjen told him.

 

"Gendry, keep an eye on them while we talk", the leader commanded.

 

The boy Gendry held them at gunpoint while the rest of them whispered in the corner.

 

When they came back, their leader handed Ned his AK47.

 

"Name's Beric", he introduced himself, "that's Anguy, Lem, Edric, Tom, Harwin, Bella, Jeyne, and Willow. You've already met Gendry, and the man who just went outside is Thoros".

 

"I'm Ned", Ned replied.

 

"Benjen", Benjen said next.

 

"Howland".

 

"Well, Ned, Benjen, and Howland. Will you join us? We have spare room, and weapons for all three of you", Beric offered, gesturing for his men to hand guns to Benjen and Howland too.

 

"What's the catch?", Ned asked, knowing that this offer was likely too good to be true.

 

"I hope that you have no problem with conflict. I also hope that you know how to shoot those guns. In fact, I hope for the world to go back to the way it was, but we can't have that", Beric rambled, "we're at war with another group", he got to the point, "these are some real nasty fuckers. We thought that you were with them, but you seem honest enough, and we need all the men we can get".

 

"Who are these people you're fighting?", Ned prodded.

 

"They're two groups, technically, but they're working together towards a common goal: to destroy everyone else", Beric explained.

 

"We've already lost a lot of good men and women fighting them", Gendry added.

 

"The first group are called the Flayed Men. They have about twenty good men, and they're brutal, ruthless, efficient killers. They're set up in an old castle, with thick stone walls. They surround themselves with impaled heads and bodies hung from trees to send a message to any who would try to attack them", Beric detailed.

 

"Some of those heads and bodies belong to our own", Thoros said from the doorway behind them.

 

"From what we can tell, the second group have at least fifty men", Beric continued, "their leader is a scumbag called Walder Frey. His men control a bridge, which is the only way to cross that river. Frey's men ambush and kill anyone who cross it, and a lot of people cross it. Just recently, a convoy passed through, and all but three of them died".

 

"You only have eleven people", Ned pointed out, "how do you fight seventy of them?".

 

"Well, we could have fourteen, if you'll join us", Beric smirked, "and like I said - we used to have more. And luckily none of our enemies know where we are. This trainyard isn't on any map, so we're ghosts here. And if they do find us, we can use the train carriages for cover, and if it all goes to shit then we can escape on the tracks".

 

"Fair enough", Ned nodded, "we'll fight with you".

 


	10. New friends

Margaery

 

Their new friends, Sansa and Jeyne, told them about where they were heading. It seemed like a good deal - a cabin by a lake which had food stores and its own generators. It was almost too good to be true, but Margaery and Loras did deserve some luck, so perhaps this was the gods' way of rewarding them after the long journey they had been on.

 

Loras had wanted to go back and find Garlan and Willas, but Margaery insisted that they keep moving forward. She had told him that they would leave a note so that the older brothers could follow them, but deep down Margaery had a bad, sinking feeling that whatever was at that gas station, neither her nor Loras wanted to see it.

 

So instead they joined Sansa and Jeyne on their way to the camp.

 

"I was looking for my family", Sansa told Margaery as they walked, "Jeyne's parents lived there too. We hoped that they would be there".

 

Margaery took that in for a moment. She felt bad that this girl hadn't even had the chance to see her family since this all happened. Even though Margaery had lost hers, at least she got to see them before their time was done.

 

"You might still find them", Margaery reassured, "don't give up hope".

 

"Thank you", Sansa said appreciatively, giving her a sweet smile. Margaery hadn't seen it until now, but Sansa was gorgeous. In the forests when Sansa had a gun pointed at her, Margaery failed to see that this auburn, blue-eyed beauty looked like a damn angel. But now, up close, she could see it. In fact, she couldn't stop seeing it. She caught herself staring at Sansa for too long, and when she made eye contact with Loras she knew that he knew what she was thinking.

 

Margaery blushed and hoped that Sansa didn't see. She probably didn't even like girls in that way, and would probably freak out if she knew how obsessed Margaery had become with her over the course of a day.

 

 _It's just a crush_ , Margaery told herself.

 

Margaery was pulled from her reverie when the other three suddenly stopped. She saw it too. They had made it.

 

The cabin - or should she say cabins - were everything that Sansa had promised, and more. There were people here too. Friendly people. That was something that Margaery had yet to see since the apocalypse began.

 

"Hi", one the girls welcomed them, "come with me, I'll take you to Cersei. She's in charge".

 

The four of them followed, but it didn't skip Margaery's notice how Sansa's face dropped at the sound of the name Cersei.

 

When they met Cersei, Margaery knew why.

 

"Before we talk, you all ought to take a shower", was the first thing that Cersei had said to them, "Dr Qyburn will show you where they are".

 

A little rat of a man came out of the shadows and led them to a separate building.

 

After showering, Margaery got dressed in the changing room. At least these people had given them a fresh change of clothes. Sansa was the next to finish, and joined Margaery.

 

"Do you know her?", Margaery asked.

 

"Who?", Sansa replied coyly.

 

"Cersei", Margaery clarified.

 

Sansa bit her lip, frowned, and nodded.

 

"How do you know her?", Margaery pressed.

 

"Before the world ended, she was my ex-boyfriend's mother. She always treated me like crap", Sansa answered.

 

Margaery left it at that. She had heard enough, and Sansa didn't seem to want to go into further detail.

 

When they all had finished showering and got changed, they went to meet Cersei again. This time she was less rude.

 

"Do you want to stay here?", Cersei asked them.

 

They all nodded.

 

"You'll have to work for it. We all have jobs here, and you'll be expected to play your part", Cersei added. Not quite a great sales pitch, but the camp spoke for itself. People and resources were underrated these days, so Margaery would do nearly anything to join them.

 

When they went back outside to meet the other inhabitants, Margaery noticed the distinct lack of males. The only males she had seen here were Qyburn and Loras. Margaery had asked one of the girls about this, and she answered that most of them had come from an all-girls school which used to send them here for school trips during summers. That explained the number of females here, but not the lack of men.

 

Either way, Margaery wouldn't complain. Unless something happened to Loras, she could ignore this fact. The point was that they were safe, and they could be happy in this place. 


	11. Hunted

Theon

 

Gods, if Theon had to listen to Robb and Jeyne fucking one more time he would stick an arrow through their tent.

 

Frustrated and unable to get any sleep, Theon left his tent and wandered out into the woods.

 

On the way he saw Osha laying there in the dirt. Theon wouldn't allow her to sleep in any of the tents, so he chained her to a tree and left her with a bucket to piss and shit in.

 

Theon kicked her leg, waking her up. "Comfortable?", he mocked.

 

"Maybe you'll be just as comfortable after I stick a knife through your neck", Osha spat.

 

"Well, maybe I should stick something of mine inside of you!", Theon hissed.

 

"I'd like to see you try", Osha tested him. Theon responded by punching her in the face.

 

"Shut up", he ordered, gently rubbing the pain out of his hand.

 

He then left her to sit there in the cold. Theon went further away from the camp, wanting to escape it all. But no, Robb was his friend, so he wouldn't really leave. He was just taking a walk to clear his mind.

 

Theon wondered what they would do after they found the rest of the Starks. He played with the idea that they could go to the coast to find his own family. His father never really liked him, but surely Asha would accept them. If not, they could just find somewhere else.

 

Either way, they had to find Robb's family first. Some days Theon thought that he had more faith than Robb did. Robb seemed as if he didn't really believe he'd find anything back at his house, but Theon was adamant that they keep going. Ned was like a father to Theon, while his real father was distant and unloving.

 

Suddenly, Theon heard a crack behind him. He rapidly turned around and instinctively reached for an arrow, but he must have left his weapons in his tent.

 

Listening, Theon concluded that something - or someone - had stepped on a twig. Theon scanned the dark, midnight forest around him. He thought that he could see some silhouettes, but he wasn't sure.

 

 _Am I being watched?_ , Theon started to panic.

 

When there was a rustle of leaves, Theon bolted like a scared deer. It seemed like hours before he finally made it back, panting and sweating, and the sun was already beginning to rise.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* 

 

By the time everyone had woken up and eaten breakfast, they began to move again. Theon made an extra effort to hide last night's campfire, and he walked at the back of the group for two reasons: firstly to cover their tracks, and secondly to keep an eye on Osha. It could've been her friends that were watching them. She had claimed that she had no more friends, but she could easily have been lying.

 

Theon hadn't told anybody else about what he heard. Not even Robb. He didn't need them to panic.

 

They walked through the woods until finally they emerged. This neighbourhood looked very familiar, and Theon tried to pinpoint where they were.

 

Robb, however, had already seemed to have figured it out. He dropped his bags and his gun and sprinted down the street.

 

That was when it clicked. They were at Ned's neighbourhood.

 

"We're here", Theon announced to the rest of them, but Bran and Rickon had already gone down the street after Robb.

 

The rest of them ran as well, leaving Theon behind with Osha.

 

"Stay here", Theon said, "I'll fetch you in a minute".

 

Theon then joined the rest. By the time he arrived, Robb was on his knees, comforting a crying Rickon and a visibly upset Bran.

 

Robb opened his mouth to speak, but cut himself short when he noticed that they were surrounded.

 

Seven heavily armed men appeared out of nowhere and encircled the group. It was seven against seven.  _We can take them_ , Theon thought, but Robb gave him a look which said 'NO'.

 

Each of them had an odd marking on their faces. On at least one cheek they had a cross carved into their flesh.

 

An eighth man emerged, wielding a grotesque knife. He didn't have an 'X' on his cheek, and the way he walked made it obvious that he was the leader. He was also holding a chain, which was leashed to a collar around the neck of an old man which they had enslaved.

 

"Look what we have here, boys", the leader laughed, "which one of you is in charge?".

 

Robb stood up, towering above the fat, ugly man, but was promptly knocked back onto his ass.

 

"Any of you boys want the girls?", he asked his men, who licked their lips hungrily.

 

"No, but I'll take that boy", one of them grinned with yellow teeth, grabbing Bran and dragging him away kicking and screaming.

 

"Leave him alone!", Robb shouted, standing up again.

 

All of them aimed their guns at Robb, who was once again forced to back down.

 

"We're taking you all back to my father", he announced, "my name is Ramsay, and you would do well to remember that name", he punctuated, looking directly into Theon's eyes with his own eyes that looked like chips of dirty ice. "We are the Flayed Men, and you belong to us now".

 

"Fuck you!", Meera yelled, but was silenced by a hit in the face with the back of a gun.

 

Before they could be captured, though, the man who had taken Bran had his throat cut open by Osha. Theon used the distraction to loose an arrow into another man. The old, grey-haired man who was Ramsay's prisoner used the opportunity to bite the hand that held his chain.

 

"Pull back! Retreat!", Ramsay shouted, clutching desperately onto his bloodied right hand. Robb picked up a dropped rifle and fired at the men as they escaped into the forest.

 

Theon prepared another arrow and aimed it at Osha. "Drop the knife!".

 

"Theon!", Robb roared, "she saved Bran's life!", he said, knocking the bow out of Theon's hands.

 

Robb squared himself up to Theon and looked him in the eyes, daring Theon to challenge him.

 

"I was only going to shoot her in the hand!", Theon shouted in his face.

 

He was suddenly pushed to the ground. "You don't make the calls anymore, Theon! Father's probably dead! That means I'm in charge now!", he declared to the group, tears streaming down his face.

 

Theon sat there on the road while Robb went to thank Osha for saving his brother's life. Meanwhile, the prisoner came up to Theon.

 

"My name is Dr Luwin...", he started.

 

"I don't want to talk", Theon cut him off, a petulant sound thick in his tone.

 

"I just wanted to thank you. You're a good man, and you have good intentions. Just try not to turn against your friends. That's how groups fall apart. Mine turned against itself, so when Ramsay and his Flayed Men came we were too busy fighting each other to deal with them. They killed all of them except for me. They were going to make me be a doctor for them. Don't let that happen to your people", Luwin told him.

 

Theon couldn't hold it back anymore. He cried like a lost child.

 

"I don't deserve to live", Theon bawled.

 

Robb had come back over and offered a hand to Theon. "Don't say that. You're my brother, Theon". The words made Theon weep even more.

 

Theon took the hand and pulled himself up, wiping the tears from his eyes.

 

"We're going to find the others. There was a note in the house. It was damaged, so we couldn't read it, but we could see that it was signed by Sansa and three others. That means we're not alone. We're going to find them", Robb announced.


	12. Moving out

Jon

 

It had been days since they went into the military base. They thought that it was perfect, but they were so wrong.

 

They found themselves with nothing to do all day, and Jon was getting so bored that it nearly drove him insane.

 

The four of them spent a lot of time at the firing range, but other than that all they could do was walk around the blank and banal corridors of the plain, grey base. At least they were getting a lot of shooting practice, even if it meant that half of their ammo had been used up already.

 

One day Arya came up to Jon during breakfast. "Let's go driving", Arya asked, looking like an agitated caged bird that needed to stretch its wings.

 

"What?", Jon said, his mouth still full of powdered eggs.

 

"There's got to be like ten armoured trucks out there in the yard. Let's drive one of them!", she said again.

 

"No", Jon replied plainly, "we're safe in here".

 

Arya pulled at her hair and looked like she was about to scream. "I can't stay in here for a minute longer!", she protested, "there's no-one to talk to! I swear I will shoot myself if I have to stay in here for a minute longer!".

 

Jon stood up from the table, "Arya, no! We can't risk our lives just for a drive around the roads!".

 

"If you won't take me, I'll just go by myself!", Arya said defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest.

 

"No", Jon said again. He was running out of ways to tell Arya that she couldn't go, no matter how much any of them wanted to leave.

 

Arya stormed off, leaving him in the cafeteria. Jon sighed, and looked to Dany for help. But she just had a look of sadness in her violet eyes.

 

"She's right, you know", Dany spoke up, "we'll all go crazy if we stay here. We need to find more people".

 

"Not you too", Jon groaned, "even you must admit that it's too risky. Strangers could be dangerous. We're safer here. We don't even know what's out there".

 

"I was a stranger to you, once", Dany argued, "there are still good people in this world".

 

Jon couldn't find a response to that. All he could say was, "I promised to keep Arya safe". He then went after Arya to make sure that she didn't _actually_ drive off by herself. If she was going to leave, he wouldn't let her do it by herself.

 

But on the way, Jon found Sam looking out of a window. He decided to talk to him. "Hey, have you seen Arya?", Jon asked.

 

"Sorry, I haven't", Sam answered.

 

"Are you ok?", Jon asked. Sam seemed nearly as sad as Dany was.

 

"Yeah, I was just thinking about my dad", Sam replied.

 

"Do you miss him?".

 

"Oh, gods, no", Sam laughed, "he was always mean to me. He forced me to exercise and starved me in order to get me into shape. I suppose that he wanted his son to be like him".

 

"So why were you thinking about him?", Jon had to ask.

 

"Well after all, he was still my father", Sam shrugged, "I just miss having a family".

 

For the second time that day, Jon found himself at a loss for words.

 

After a while of just sitting there in silence, Jon said, "I never asked..."

 

"Never asked what?", Sam prompted.

 

"...where did your father and all of his men go? It's a bit strange that he just left".

 

Sam shook his head, "apparently there's this place called The Eyrie. It's some fancy government facility, so they ordered all nearby generals to report there so that they could protect the place".

 

"The Eyrie? What is it? Some secret facility?", Jon questioned.

 

"No, not really. Dad said that it was a sanctuary for all survivors", Sam explained.

 

"Then why didn't he take you with him?".

 

"Like I said: my dad was always mean to me", Sam replied, "he didn't want to take me with him".

 

Jon felt conflicting emotions at that moment. He felt angry at Sam's father for leaving his son behind; but he also felt determined - to take Arya and Dany to The Eyrie. If it was really a safe place, then he had an obligation to take them there. Furthermore, it was an excuse for them to finally leave this base.


	13. Calm before the storm

Eddard

 

They had made the trainyard into a home.

 

Food was stored in one carriage, while weapons were in another, and water was in a third, etc. The idea was that they shouldn't keep all of their eggs in one basket.

 

Beric had also decided that there should be patrols. If Ned, Ben, and Howland could sneak up on them like they had, then their enemies could just as easily do the same. Therefore the whole group had supported the idea that they keep at least one set of eyes in the woods at all times.

 

Ned had come back from his patrol, with his AK47 on hand, his handgun in his leg holster, and a hatchet in his belt. Whenever any of them went out there, they had to be well-armed.

 

They all carried flare guns as well, to signal for help if they found trouble that they couldn't handle themselves. None of them had used any flares yet. Well, except for Thoros, but that man was so obsessed with fire that he used flare guns like any other man would use a regular gun.

 

Ned whistled, announcing his return to the others. As he approached the trainyard he met Benjen on his way out.

 

"Is it your shift?", Ned asked.

 

"Yeah", Benjen replied.

 

"Take care of yourself out there", Ned told him, giving him a brief hug.

 

"Always do, brother", Benjen smiled.

 

When Ned had finally reached the main building, he saw Gendry halfway through some... intimate activities with Bella.

 

"Hey", Ned interrupted them, causing them both to hilariously jump and scramble to pull their clothes back on.

 

Gendry tried hard to find the words to make an excuse as to what they were doing, but Ned simply laughed and told him that it was ok, and that their secret was safe with him.

 

Ned kept walking through the building, on the way thinking about how Ned almost treated Gendry like a son. It was the small things, like showing him how to tie a figure 8 knot, and teaching him how to drive. It reminded Ned of his eldest son, Robb. Gods, Ned hoped that he got to see Robb again some day.

 

"Heads up", Beric suddenly said, tossing a bottle of water at him which Ned caught. "How is it out there?", Beric asked.

 

"Quiet", Ned answered, taking a drink. Things had been quiet for days. Maybe the Flayed Men and the Freys had found some other group to pick on, or maybe they just weren't looking closely enough.

 

"We need to make a move quickly, then", Beric stroked the blond stubble on his chin, "we ought to, while things are going well. We have food, water, guns, and manpower. Any of those things could change at any minute. Once everyone has returned from patrols, we'll move out against the Flayed Men. If we take them out, maybe the Freys will overestimate our strength and not dare to mess with us".

 

"You never told me who's in charge of the Flayed Men", Ned said.

 

"Didn't I? Well, it's nobody special. Just some man named Roose Bolton. He's a creepy son of a bitch; likes to torture people, and lets his men steal and rape and murder, even though he doesn't do any of those things. The man doesn't even drink alcohol", Beric laughed.

 

"Why not?".

 

"Don't know. Perhaps he think he's moral. Or maybe he doesn't want to dull his senses", Beric pondered.

 

"Sounds like he's smart. And dangerous. He might be suspecting an attack", Ned mused, "maybe he's drawn his men back to make us anxious".

 

"Hmm", Beric considered it for a moment, "you have a good mind for strategy, Ned. What did you do before the end of the world, anyway?".

 

"That's a story for another time", Ned smirked, "for now we need to focus on keeping our cool. We'll fight Bolton on our terms. When the time is right, an opportunity will present itself", he counselled patience.

 

"You're wrong", Beric replied blankly, "in this world, patience doesn't mean shit. If you want something to get done, you need to get your hands dirty and get it done yourself".


	14. Thorns

Margaery

 

People were going missing. Margaery knew that Cersei was behind it.

 

When she brought it up at dinner, Cersei had replied, "they left to find their families". It was an unconvincing lie, but Margaery pretended that she believed it.

 

The next day, when everybody went out to do their jobs, Margaery took a detour. She went to Cersei's cabin. It was by far the largest, but she kept it all for herself. She didn't even let her daughter Myrcella stay in there with her.

 

Margaery picked the lock on the door, glancing around to make sure that nobody was watching. She needed to do this quickly, since her absence would surely be noticed if she was gone for too long. As far as the other girls knew, Margaery had gone to use the toilet. It would buy her some time, but not a lot.

 

The lock broke. She was in.

 

Creeping stealthily through the cabin, Margaery saw pretty much what she expected. Crates filled with wine bottles, secret stashes of chocolate, and electronic devices which must be using up at least half of the energy produced by the camp's generators.

 

Other than Margaery confirming her suspicions that Cersei was a greedy bitch, she couldn't find any evidence as to what happened to the girls who went missing.

 

Well, at least until she heard the screams.

 

It was faint and muffled, and at first Margaery had thought she had imagined it. But then it happened again and again.

 

Margaery pressed her ear to the walls, trying to track down the source of the sound. But she had checked every room, and there was nothing to be found.

 

She was about to give up when she was in Cersei's bedroom. Then she heard the scream again, which made Margaery decide that she would tear this place apart to find whoever was screaming. It might not be someone she knew, but tomorrow it could be Loras or Sansa or Jeyne. She had to stop this  _now_.

 

Incidentally, finding the hidden room was very easy. Margaery had accidentally knocked the wardrobe in Cersei's room, which budged slightly to reveal a secret door.

 

Margaery picked the lock once again, and crept down the dark, damp stairs into what seemed like a dungeon.

 

What she saw next infuriated her: Qyburn, Cersei's pet, prodded at girls with sharp tools and clamped them onto what could only be torture devices. Every single one of the girls who had gone missing, and then some, were down here. Most of them were dead already, and the smell of it invaded Margaery's nostrils.

 

Qyburn must have sensed her presence, as he turned around and stormed at her with an iron rod in his hand.

 

He lunged at her, but she dodged it at the last second. She easily overpowered the little man, and choked him against the wall.

 

"What is this place, you sick fuck?!", Margaery exclaimed, looking at this man with disgust, "you torture girls down here, don't you? Girls that Cersei gives you".

 

Qyburn laughed, and Margaery tightened her fingers to silence him. "You were going to next", he croaked, "and then your brother. And after that, that pretty redhead. What's her name? Sansa?", he gloated.

 

Margaery nearly snapped his neck, but she couldn't bring herself to kill. Not right now. She wasn't ready, and even though she was angry, her rage didn't blind her. Besides, as far as she could tell, Qyburn wanted to die.

 

Instead, she threw him against the floor, and used some of his chains to tie him up.

 

"No!", he screamed, "kill me!".

 

Margaery ignored him. The man deserved to suffer.

 

She then went to the girl who was tied up against the wall, whom Qyburn had just been torturing.

 

"I'm sorry that he did this to you", Margaery said to the girl. She didn't know her name, but she recognised her. She began to unbind her, but the girl shook her head.

 

That was when Margaery realised that the girl couldn't talk, and that her breaths were ragged and laboured. The poor girl had been tortured so badly that living had become difficult for her.

 

Margaery took back her previous misgivings. She immediately picked up a knife from a table and stabbed Qyburn to death, making it last to extend his suffering. She then went to the girl and gave her the mercy of a quick death, so that her agony would not be prolonged.

 

When Margaery had entered this cabin, she hadn't known what she would find. She certainly didn't think that she would lose a part of herself.

 

She must have lost track of time, because when she left the sky was already darkening. But it wasn't dark enough for her to not see Cersei shouting at Sansa.

 

Neither of them could see her, thankfully. They would have seen a girl covered in blood, with a knife still clutched in her hand.

 

Margaery kept watching as Cersei yelled into Sansa's face, and then hitting her. Sansa looked like she was about to cry.

 

Still riding high on bloodlust and fury, Margaery rushed forward and made her knife meet Cersei's neck.


	15. Confrontation

Sansa

 

Cersei was dead. Everything was falling apart, and it was all because of Margaery. She just stabbed her through the neck like it was nothing. Sansa regretted bringing the Tyrells with her here. Maybe if she'd just shot them in those woods, then everything here at the camp would be fine.

 

People were panicking. Qyburn was missing too. That was probably Margaery's doing as well. In the morning, people refused to go to work until they got answers.

 

Sansa worked anyway. She had to make sure that this place kept functioning. Besides, she felt partially responsible for what had happened. Sansa ran around the camp, putting out the fishing nets, checking the generators, and putting the clothes out to dry (even though it looked like it was about to rain).

 

She was interrupted by Margaery, who grabbed her by the arm between chores. "Sansa, I need to talk to you", she pleaded.

 

"Don't touch me", Sansa refused, pulling herself away from Margaery's grip, "you're a murderer! You ruined everything!".

 

"I did it for you. I-", Margaery said, walking after her.

 

"What?!", Sansa snapped, turning around to face her. When Margaery couldn't get a response out, Sansa turned around again and stormed off.

 

"Have you told anyone about it?", Margaery called.

 

"No".  _Not yet_.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

At around midday, Cersei's daughter Myrcella called a meeting. Everyone gathered at the centre of the camp right next to the lake.

 

"We all need answers", Myrcella began, "someone killed my mother, and none of us can live here with a murderer in our midst".

 

Her words were reasonable, but Sansa could see the anger in Myrcella's emerald eyes.

 

"I'm asking whoever it was to confess", Myrcella continued, "you'll be exiled, and never allowed to come back".

 

The punishment seemed fair. Sansa looked over at Margaery on the other side of the crowd. It didn't look like she was going to confess.

 

Sansa decided to do it for her. She opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of a blast through the air drowned out the sound of her voice.

 

The next thing she knew, Myrcella fell to the ground with a bloody hole in her face.

 

There were screams, tears, and people running. In the confusion, Sansa could only stand there while her ears rang and her vision went blurry.

 

When she gathered her wits, she noticed that they were surrounded. Five men with guns encircled the group.

 

"Look at this!", one of them laughed, "a whole group o' girls! Ramsay would've liked to see this".

 

"Maybe we should bring one back for him, to give his hand something to make it feel better", another joked.

 

"How about this one?", a third pointed directly at Sansa. The second speaker went over to grab Sansa. She struggled against his grip, but it was too tight.

 

Margaery ran over, shouting "NO!". But the first man - the one who had fired the shot at Myrcella - shot Margaery as well. Margaery collapsed to the floor, clutching at the wound in her abdomen. The five men laughed at her.

 

Sansa remembered that she had a gun in her belt. She only used it for hunting and to threaten people, but now she intended to use it.

 

But before she could grab it, one of the men spotted it and took it.

 

"Where are the rest of your weapons?", one of them demanded.

 

All of the girls froze and looked to each other for help.

 

"I said-!", the man repeated, finishing his sentence by spitting his blood out of his mouth.

 

"What the-?!", another exclaimed, startled. But then he died too. His entrails came pouring out of his belly.

 

Then a third died - a machete finding its way through his heart. A fourth died a similar death, with the machete cutting through his neck. 

 

The last man dropped his gun and went to his knees, looking at the killer through teary eyes.

 

"Please! Have mercy!", he cried like a baby.

 

"This is mercy", the machete-wielding saviour replied, bringing his weapon down to brutally hack the man's head open.

 

There were even more screams from the other girls, but Sansa looked curiously at the man with burns all over the side of his face.

 

"Who are you?", Sansa asked.

 

"Sandor Clegane", he answered, "more importantly, who are you? And what is this place?".

 

"It's a safe place", Sansa responded.

 

"Obviously not that safe", he mumbled to himself, laughing at his own joke.

 

"I'm Sansa Stark", she introduced herself.

 

He stopped laughing upon hearing that. "Stark? Did you just say Stark?", Sandor asked.

 

"Um... yes?", Sansa replied uncertainly.

 

"Are you related to a Catelyn Stark?", he questioned.

 

"Yeah, she's my mother. Why? Have you seen her? Is she ok?".

 

"Son of a bitch", he grunted, "I owe her", he spoke to Sansa.

 

"For what?", Sansa raised an eyebrow.

 

"I stole her fucking car", he elaborated, "that thing was busted anyway. Barely got me past that bridge where some cunts ambushed me".

 

"Do you know where she is?", Sansa asked.

 

"Yeah", he answered, scratching the back of his head, "some place called The Eyrie".


	16. Brother

Jon

 

Jon was behind the wheel, driving the armoured truck down the motorway. He took a turn into a side path. The truck wasn't made well for rough terrain, but it was better to take longer and be safe rather than be ambushed on the motorway, he reasoned.

 

The truck was a troop transporter from the military base, and could easily hold over a dozen people.  _If only they had a dozen people_. 

 

"Watch out!", he suddenly heard Dany scream. Jon stopped daydreaming and refocused on the dirt road. Someone was standing in the middle of it, so Jon slammed on the brakes and swerved away.

 

Thankfully, when they came to a stop, they hadn't flipped over or crashed into a tree.

 

Jon took off his seatbelt and stepped out of the vehicle, but it would seem that Arya had done so already, and was hugging the man that had been in the road.

 

At first, Jon was confused, until he saw who the man was. He was hardly recognisable with his new beard and weathered features, but this could be no-one other than Robb Stark.

 

"Robb!", Jon exclaimed, running over to give his best friend - who was more like a brother - a hug.

 

"Thank you, Jon", Robb thanked.

 

"What for?".

 

"For looking after Arya", he said, "I thought she was dead".

 

"Are you with mother and father?", Arya asked.

 

"No", Robb replied, "but I have Bran and Rickon".

 

Jon and Arya looked at each other and smiled like idiots.

 

"Who are your friends?", Robb asked, looking at the people still by the truck.

 

"Oh, that's Sam. We just met", Jon answered, "and this is Daenerys, or Dany for short. She's the love of my life", he said, causing Dany to blush.

 

"Nice to meet you", Robb greeted, "if Jon trusts you, I trust you. If you'll have us, I'd like it if you all joined my group".

 

"Who else is there?", Jon asked.

 

"Me, Bran, Rickon, Jeyne Westerling, Howland Reed's kids, Theon, and two others: a doctor and a woman", Robb answered.

 

Jon firstly looked at Arya, but he already knew her response. She nodded.

 

He then looked to Dany. Her eyes said 'whatever you think is right'.

 

FInally, Jon looked to Sam. To be honest, Sam's opinion mattered the least, but Jon would hear it anyway. Thankfully, Sam nodded as well.

 

"We're in", Jon told Robb, "we'll go with you".

 

There was more laughter and hugs after that, until Robb took Jon over to the side.

 

"You're probably wondering what I was doing out here alone", Robb began.

 

"It crossed my mind", Jon shrugged.

 

"I was... I was looking for an engagement ring", Robb announced.

 

Jon's eyes grew comically wide. "Wha-?! You... you're going to propose to Jeyne?", Jon replied, shocked.

 

"Shh, keep your voice down", Robb whispered, "it's a secret".

 

"Oh, ok, sorry", Jon muttered.

 

"You can go back to the others if you want", Robb offered, "do you remember where my neighbourhood is?".

 

"We were just heading there, funnily enough", Jon answered.

 

"Good", Robb said, pausing and taking a breath before continuing, "or... if you want to come with me...".

 

"I... I don't think I'm ready to propose to Dany yet", Jon stammered out.

 

"Oh, no! That's not what I was implying", Robb rushed to correct himself, "I meant that I'd appreciate the company. And if you want, you could always pick up a ring for later. Just in case", Robb winked.

 

"Alright, I'll go with you", Jon laughed, "Arya knows how to find your neighbourhood. They'll go there now, and we'll catch up later".

 

"Sounds like a plan", Robb agreed.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Jon re-adjusted the uncomfortable bulletproof vest beneath his shirt and slung the bag filled with grenades onto his other less sore shoulder. Uncomfortable as it may be, Jon wasn't taking any chances.

 

The jewellery shop was a modest place on the edge of the abandoned town. All of the windows were broken, so they had no difficulty getting in. However, over half of the rings had already been looted; probably by people at the beginning of the end of the world.

 

Robb turned on a flashlight and looked around. Jon looked too, but with less determination. After what seemed like a very long time, Robb proclaimed, "found it!". He held the ring up in the air. It was good, Jon would grant him that. The ring was a golden band with a small diamond encrusted on the top. It was quite a beautiful ring.

 

What wasn't beautiful was the sight of Robb falling to the ground, dead from several gunshot wounds. And that ring wasn't so beautiful with blood all over it.

 

Jon turned around, only to be met by half a dozen gunshots himself.

 

The bullets thudded into Jon's chest, sending him hurtling backwards. Lead met kevlar, so even though Jon was hurt, he didn't meet the same fate as Robb.

 

Jon managed to reach his assault rifle before getting to cover. He fired back at the attackers until he had barely any ammo left. They fired back, too, shredding the jewellery store into a warzone, making it look like a bomb had gone off.

 

That reminded him.  _The bag of grenades_ _!_ Jon looked around to see where it was. When he finally spotted it, he was disappointed. It was just out of reach. If he tried to go for it, he would most likely die.

 

They were in a stalemate for a long time. Neither side fired a single shot. The sky had clouded and it started to pour down with rain after about fifteen minutes. Jon tried to use it as a cover to escape, but when he moved a shot nearly hit his head, so Jon stayed put.

 

Jon prayed. He prayed to every god whose name he knew. He prayed that Arya, Dany, Theon, and Jeyne heard the shots and came to save him. But they probably didn't hear the shots, and if they did they might not have wanted to come. Moreso, the rain was getting worse, and it began to thunder. They were all probably beneath Ned Stark's roof, sitting around the fireplace and wondering where Robb and Jon were.

 

It would seem that Jon's prayers were answered. A smoke grenade had rolled out of the bag and had found its way to Jon.

 

He might have laughed and cheered if he weren't about to die.

 

Desperately, Jon pulled the pin and tossed the grenade out of a window. When it burst, he used the cover to leave out of the back door, leaving the rest of the grenades behind.

 

There was somebody waiting for him out back, but before he could react, Jon emptied the rest of his ammo into the man.

 

Jon looked closely at the corpse, and saw something odd. The man had a cross carved into his cheek.

 

However, Jon did not have the time to dwell on that. The others were coming. He had to run.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

By the time he had made it back, it was midnight, and his clothes were drenched - with not only rain and sweat, but also from tears.

 

He had ditched his weapons and bulletproof vest many miles back. They were slowing him down, and the men who had killed Robb were chasing him the whole way.

 

When Jon had finally made it to the house, everyone was asleep.

 

Jon didn't want to face what he had to do in the morning.


	17. The Storm

Eddard

 

Beric had held back all patrols until the storm passed. Even under the roof of the trainyard building, the rain managed to find its way through to soak them. The thunder whipped and cracked, echoing through the woods. It wasn't even possible to see the lightning through the mass of dark clouds.

 

Everyone was here except for Benjen. He was yet to return from his patrol, and Ned couldn't help but picture his brother stuck out there in this storm alone and unsheltered.

 

Ned had asked Beric if he could leave to find his brother, but Beric had told him that everyone was needed here.

 

It was unfair, but Ned wasn't one to disobey orders.

 

But this was his brother.

 

Ned sat there, conflicting with himself. Surely Beric would forgive him once he returned, and Howland would have Ned's back. But if Ned left, he might catch a cold or even hypothermia. Not to mention that the Flayed Men and the Freys were still out there, who were further closing in on their base as each day passed.

 

But that was the point. What if Benjen was captured by them? The location of their secret hideout would be tortured out of him. Ned decided that he had to help his brother.

 

Before anyone could notice, Ned put on his jacket and boots, and grabbed his AK47, Handgun, and hatchet, and left out of the side door.

 

Ned didn't waste time. He ran down the tracks in the direction that his brother had left in. Unfortunately, the rain had washed away most of the tracks, but Ned had determination and patience. No matter what, he would find Benjen.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

He was sure that he heard voices calling after him, but it was most likely a trick of the wind. As if on cue, an icy, chilling blast of wind pushed into Ned, making him shiver and causing goosebumps to arise on his skin.

 

Thankfully, the rain was starting to ease up, allowing Ned to see more than two paces in front of him.

 

When the rain had cleared up enough, he was dissatisfied to discover that he wasn't far from the trainyard at all. He had barely covered any distance over what had felt like hours.

 

Even so, Ned opted to continue his search.

 

It didn't take long for him to find Benjen.

 

Cold, dead, and with pale, bloated features, Ned's younger brother lay there dead against a tree.

 

Ned could see the wound that killed him, but the rain had washed all of the blood away.

 

Ned wept. Benjen was the only family that Ned had left, and now he was gone just like the others.

 

BOOM!

 

Ned's head snapped around, ears searching for the source of the noise. It sounded like thunder, but also somewhat like an explosion.

 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

 

It sounded like the gods were beating their drums, and the sound was coming from home.

 

Forgetting his brother, Ned followed the noise.

 

Just as he made it back, it started raining again. It gave him some cover, so that he could approach the trainyard more closely.

 

The windows were all shattered, and smoke was rising out of the blown-out roof. The rains barely did anything to quench the flames. Ned saw the hands, too. Flayed Men hands which threw dozens of grenades into the building. Ned recognised those bastards by the distinctive crosses cut into their cheeks; Beric had told Ned about them. Grenades were also hurled at the train carriages, too, destroying all of their supplies.

 

Ned looked down the sights of his gun, ready to shoot, but thought better of it. Today would not be the day he died. Attacking them now would essentially be suicide. He swore vengeance, but that would have to wait for another day. He would find another group, maybe. Or perhaps he'd acquire better weapons. Whatever it took, and however long it took, he would find a way to kill those men.


	18. The Eyrie

Catelyn

 

Walking to The Eyrie was more difficult than any of them had expected. If they still had their car, then they could have made it here weeks ago.

 

But at least now they had made it.

 

The Eyrie was a facility on the side of the mountain, with only one path leading up and down. It looked like an evil boss' lair from one of those spy movies. Above all, though, it looked safe. It was everything that the rumours claimed it to be.

 

However, as they approached they saw something else as well. It was a smaller building at the bottom of the mountain, right at the beginning of the path. It was basically a wall, with a big gate right in the middle of it. And the closer Cat got, the more clearly she could see the armed guards on top of the wall.

 

"Do you see it?", Cat asked her brother.

 

"Yeah", Edmure replied, "what should we do?".

 

"I say keep going", Cat suggested.

 

"They might kill us", Jaime pointed out.

 

"We'll die out here anyway", Catelyn responded, "this is our best shot at actually surviving".

 

"Let's go, then", Brienne agreed.

 

The four of them went to the gate, arms raised above their heads to show that they meant no harm.

 

The guards still aimed their weapons at them.

 

"Halt!", one man said.

 

"We're here to join The Eyrie", Edmure announced.

 

The guards looked at one another. "The Eyrie is closed. No more people are allowed in", they replied.

 

No. It couldn't be. They had come all this way for nothing. Catelyn was about to lose her mind, but then a familiar voice came from the gate.

 

"Wait! Ed? Cat? Is that you?", the voice asked.

 

"Uncle Brynden!", Cat exclaimed.

 

"Open the gate!", Brynden shouted to his comrades.

 

The gate opened.

 

Catelyn and Edmure ran over to their uncle and hugged him.

 

"Thank you", Catelyn whispered into his shoulder.

 

"You just saved our lives", Edmure added.

 

"I'm afraid that you might be disappointed", Brynden replied, "this place isn't as great as you might think it is".

 

"Why not?", Cat asked.

 

"The Eyrie itself, the facility up in the mountain, has had an outbreak of disease. Hundreds of civilians are dying, and all of the people who aren't sick were sent down here to quarantine the ones up there", Bryden explained, "we've been trying to get medicine, but we keep getting harassed by raiders who live in the mountains. They're savages, who want to see us all killed and to see The Eyrie burn".

 

"Shit", Edmure breathed, "what do we do now?".

 

"Wait here, I suppose", Brynden shrugged, "the mountain men haven't been bold enough to attack our buildings directly, so we'll hide behind this wall and wait it out. Hopefully the disease up in the The Eyrie clears up".

 

"Are our friends welcome here too?", Cateyn asked, pointing to Jaime and Brienne who were still awkwardly standing outside of the gate.

 

"Of course, let them in", Brynden gestured to the two of them to come in.

 

Once everyone was inside, the guards lowered the gate.

 

"We have plenty of guns down here, but not much food or water. You'll have to earn your keep here", Brynden told them as they walked up some stairs.

 

"Where are all of the supplies?", Edmure asked.

 

"Up in the mountain. We can't get them, for obvious reasons", Brynden answered.

 

 _Oh well_ , Catelyn thought,  _it's better than nothing_.


	19. Long road ahead

Sansa

 

Sandor came back the next morning at sunrise with a troop transporter, capable of carrying at least a dozen people.

 

"Where did you find this?", Sansa asked incredulously.

 

"Stole it from some idiots nearby. It was night time, and it was raining, so I took it without any of them noticing. They ought to keep someone on watch next time", Sandor answered.

 

"Next time? You mean to tell me that you didn't kill them?", Sansa questioned.

 

"Who do you think I am? A cold-blooded murderer?", Sandor bit back.

 

"Yes".

 

Sandor then grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to look into his eyes. "We're all killers, little bird. Everyone you know is a killer, and if not then they will be. This new world is controlled by killers. If you survive long enough to see your mother, you'll find out that she's a killer. You'll probably be a killer too by then", he told her.

 

"You're wrong", she denied, refusing to believe him.

 

"We'll see", he smirked, making his burnt skin twist grotesquely.

 

Some people jumped into the truck. When they had heard of a safe place, some were quick to want to join them there. However, most still wanted to stay behind. They were probably afraid of the unknown.

 

The final headcount of people going with Sansa to 'The Eyrie' was seven, including herself. The others were Sandor, Jeyne Poole, Loras, Margaery, and two of Sansa's new friends from the camp: Mya and Myranda.

 

Margaery was laid out on a stretcher, passed out from the pain and blood loss of her wound.

 

Sansa initially had reservations with bringing Margaery, but she couldn't just let her die. The Eyrie probably had medicine which could be used to save her. Furthermore, Sandor's words echoed in Sansa's head... perhaps Margaery wasn't a bad person for killing. Maybe Sansa would do the same at some point.

 

But Sansa didn't want to believe that. She'd allow Margaery to come with them, but she would not allow Sandor's words to sway her.

 

Sansa was the last to get on the truck. She looked back at the rest of the girls who had stayed behind. Sansa prayed for their safety.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The journey was long. Longer than Sansa had expected. Sandor had taken a longer route south in order to avoid crossing a bridge where he had been ambushed, but to make up for it he drove at an outrageously fast speed.

 

Driving down the roads was almost peaceful. Sansa watched the trees and fields and skies as they drove past. As odd as it was to think about it, even with the human race nearly destroying itself, the world just went on.

 

"S-Sans... Sansa", a weak voice whispered from behind her. She turned to see Margaery, still lying there on the stretcher. Her eyes were beginning to open.

 

Loras rushed to his sister's side. "Shh, rest Marg. It's ok. Everything's ok".

 

"Where's Sansa?", Margaery croaked.

 

Taking a breath, Sansa went to join Loras next to Margaery.

 

"Right here, Margaery", Sansa said.

 

Margaery smiled, but other than that she looked awful. Her skin was pale, and sweat clung to her forehead and plastered her hair to her face. She was lying down with her hand on her wound. Gods, there was so much blood. Loras had wanted to dig the bullet out and bandage her up, but they didn't have any painkillers or bandages, or any medical equipment for that matter.

 

Sansa suddenly felt Margaery's hand holding hers.

 

"You never let me finish that sentence", Margaery spoke softly. Sansa had no clue what she was talking about. Maybe Margaery was losing her mind. Sansa had heard once that wound infections could turn the strongest person into an incoherent, mumbling mess.

 

"What are you talking about?", Sansa asked gently, squeezing Margaery's hand.

 

"I did that thing for you because...", she began, gulping before continuing, "...because I love you. I wanted to protect you".

 

Margaery then closed her eyes again, and didn't respond when Sansa shook her.

 

Loras had heard it too. Sansa and Loras looked at each other with wide eyes.

 

"I didn't just imagine that, did I?", Sansa asked.

 

"I was about to ask you the same thing", Loras laughed nervously.

 

Margaery was still breathing, so she was still alive. Sansa wondered whether she would even remember what she had said when she woke up again.

 

She didn't get to ponder on it for long, though, as Sandor shouted, "we're here!", from the driver's seat.

 

Sansa looked out of the window. She could see the building up in the mountains, reflecting the colours of the sunset. She had never seen anything more beautiful.


	20. Aftermath

Bran

 

Everyone was so angry. So, so angry. Jon barely spoke a word to anyone other than to tell them what had happened to Robb. Jon's girlfriend had tried to calm him down, but he had stormed off to hunt down the men who had killed Robb.

 

Their truck had been stolen too, during the night. It was probably by the same people.

 

Arya had stormed off as well, and Bran had found her on the motorway near a gas station, hacking the heads off of two corpses. He had tried to bring her back home, but she had just screamed about how unfair it was. Bran had never seen Arya cry before, and he would never forget those tears she had wept.

 

Rickon was impossibly angry, too. He screamed at the top of his lungs until his throat was sore, furious at Robb and mother and father and Sansa for not being there. Rickon was young and it was difficult for him to understand these things. This world was making him grow up too fast.  _The world is also making me grow up too fast_ , Bran thought morosely. Rickon had also ran away, and Osha had left hours ago to find him. They were yet to return.

 

Jeyne Westerling cried for a while, and she too walked off, telling Bran that she needed to 'find her peace'. Bran didn't know what that meant, but the sadness in her eyes made him not want to question her.

 

Theon went into the woods the moment Jon had told them about what had happened. The last time Bran had checked on him, he was beating his fists into a tree until his knuckles bled. Bran had never expected Theon to get emotional over Robb's death, but he supposed that Robb was like a brother to him.

 

Jojen refused to wake up, which was odd seeing as he wasn't awake to hear the news. Maybe he had overhead it from where he was sleeping.

 

Dr Luwin, Sam, and Dany stayed in the house. Bran could tell that they felt out of place amongst these grieving people. None of them knew Robb well enough, if at all, to be able to sympathise with everyone else's pain.

 

Bran wasn't angry, though. He just felt sad. This whole thing was so surreal. One day Robb had left to find supplies, and then he never came back. Bran half-expected to look out of the window to see Robb walking down the street, but it didn't happen. He missed Robb just as much as the others; even more, he reckoned. Bran recalled the moment when Robb had embraced him and Rickon after they found their house empty. Without father, Bran had looked up to Robb. But now he was gone too.

 

Meera walked towards Bran, sitting next to him on the tree stump that he had found in the forest.

 

"Hey", she said, "are you alright?".

 

Bran could have given a sarcastic or bitter response, but he instead bit his trembling lip and shook his head as his eyes watered.

 

Suddenly, she was hugging him.

 

When she pulled away Bran opened his mouth to say something, but found it otherwise occupied. Her lips were soft and gentle and... well, perfect - there was no other way to describe it.

 

Fireworks went off in his head as he deepened the kiss, using his hands to comb through her hair and cup her cheeks.

 

"We're going to be ok", Bran promised into her lips, "I won't let anything happen to you, or to any of us".

 


	21. Son

Eddard

 

His son was dead.

 

Ned found his son in some torn up store on the edge of a town, filled with gunshot wounds. If that wasn't bad enough, his killers had sliced crosses into Robb's cheeks.

 

Robb had been killed by the Flayed Men.

 

If the attack on the trainyard hadn't made him want to attack those bastards, then this would. But Ned wasn't stupid. He should still wait. There had to other good people out there who would help him. But seeing this had made him doubt it.

 

He dragged his son's body out into the woods and buried it next to Benjen's grave. Ned nearly went back to the trainyard to retrieve the other bodies there so that he could give them proper burials, but something inside of him knew that he didn't want to see what was there. It would push him over the edge of sanity.

 

Revenge is what Ned Stark lived for now. Before he had lived to protect his family.

 

But he had failed in that regard.

 

Most of his family were never even found, and the ones he did find were now dead. He couldn't even find Howland's kids - who he had promised to protect as well. He had failed them all. It wasn't fair that he got to live when everyone else died.

 

There was no justice in this new world. If he wanted it, he would have to make it.

 

No matter how long it took, or how hard it became, he would survive purely for the purpose of killing the men who had killed his brother and his son; not to mention his friends at the trainyard. Beric, Thoros, Gendry, and all of the others were good people. They had taken Ned in, fed him, clothed him, gave him a roof and supplied him with weapons.

 

Ned still had those weapons. He would use the hatchet they had given him to cut Roose Bolton's head off.

 

The Flayed Men even killed the women and the children. Edric had only been twelve years old, just slightly younger than Bran would be if he were still alive. The lad had started calling himself 'Ned' so that he could be more like the Stark man he aspired to be.

 

But he was dead now, just like his real son.

 

Robb had been a man, and Ned was sure that he had died like a man: fighting to the very last breath.

 

That was exactly what Ned intended to do. He would fight to the very last breath, no matter how many bullets they filled him with or how many knives they plunged into him. The Boltons and their men would die before Ned would ever think about taking his own.


	22. Time to leave

Jon

 

It had taken a few days, but everybody had made their ways back to Ned's old house. Jon was the last to show up. His hunt for Robb's killers had been unsuccessful, and what made it worse was that Robb's body had gone missing, and Jon wasn't even able to track down whoever took him. The bag of grenades was also missing, presumably taken by the same people.

 

Jon looked around for Dany, but couldn't see her downstairs with the others. Arya saw Jon looking around and gestured up the stairs. Jon nodded a 'thanks' at her and went up.

 

Dany was sitting in one of the bedrooms with Jeyne and Theon. Jeyne was angrily whispering something at Theon, and all Jon could make out was something along the lines of: 'I don't need your pity', and 'I am not just an accessory to Robb. I am my own person'.

 

Theon sat there with a stupid, shocked look on his face, while Dany tried to defuse the situation.

 

From the doorway Jon coughed, grabbing everyone's attention.

 

"You're back!", Dany exclaimed, practically jumping up to hug Jon. It made Jon feel slightly guilty for storming off so abruptly.

 

Jon hugged her in return, and then pulled back so that he could talk to the others.

 

"I couldn't find Robb's killers out there", he began. Jeyne looked visibly upset by this. "I buried Robb's body in the woods", Jon lied, not wanting to let them know that he had actually lost it, "we should all leave this place", he continued, "you've all met Sam, right?".

 

Jeyne and Theon nodded.

 

"His father was an army general", Jon said, "he was heading towards this place called 'The Eyrie'. It's apparently a safe place, with food, water, shelter, and other good people".

 

"I'm in", Jeyne nodded.

 

It took Theon a moment to respond, but he also finally said, "alright, let's do it".

 

"Good", Jon let out a breath of relief. He was glad that they were leaving this place; there were too many emotions and memories trapped within these walls, "I'll talk to the others. We'll find some cars on the road and head there as soon as possible".


	23. Medicine

Catelyn

 

So many people had arrived in the past few weeks, and Catelyn couldn't be more happy. She had been reunited with her daughters and her two youngest sons. However, she had cried when she heard about what happened to Robb, but it was difficult to stay sad for too long, since she never even expected to see any of her children at all, let alone four of them.

 

But her happiness had been short-lived, as one day uncle Brynden called a meeting of everyone at the gate.

 

"We have a bit of a problem", he started.

 

"We're running out of food!", a man from the gate shouted, "and it's all their fault!", he yelled accusingly at the 'new' people.

 

Renly, one of said 'new' guys, stood up facing the man. "Who do you think you are?", Renly shouted back.

 

There was a shouting match between the two sides, until Brynden stood up again and roared, "ENOUGH!"

 

Everyone quietened down after that.

 

"All of this bickering solves nothing", Brynden stated, "what we really need is medicine, so that the people up top can properly treat the illness".

 

"He's right", Edmure backed him up.

 

"Where do we find medicine?", another man from the gate asked with an accent which Catelyn couldn't place. She remembered somebody calling him Oberyn.

 

"I've drawn up a map", Brynden answered, pulling it from his pocket, "I've marked every pharmacy and hospital within a day or two's driving distance. I'll lead the search, but I won't make anyone come with me. I'll only take volunteers", he announced.

 

When nobody answered, Catelyn took the initiative and stood up first. "I'll come with you, uncle. If we want to survive, we need to do this. If we don't, we will starve, and people will keep on dying up there", she said.

 

More people were inspired and more began to stand up.

 

Oberyn was the next to rise, and then Arya. Catelyn nearly made Arya sit back down, but she was sixteen now and could make her own decisions. Besides, if Cat made Arya stay, it would only make her want to go more. Her stubborn little daughter would probably hide in the back of a car if she felt like she was being held back.

 

Jeyne Westerling arose next, and Theon - with a look of guilt on his face - stood up nearly immediately after.

 

Jaime and Brienne exchanged a few words before standing up with the others.

 

She overheard Oberyn's niece, Arianne, telling her boyfriend: "come back to me, Arys", to which he promised her that he would. He then stood up. It was the same man that had shouted at Renly a few minutes ago.

 

Speaking of Renly, Cat glanced over at him and saw him talking to Loras, one of Sansa's new friends. She overheard their conversation too. Loras said that he had to find medicine for his sister, and Renly responded that he wanted to help him, but he'd made a promise to protect his niece Shireen, so he had to stay.

 

It looked like Sansa had heard their conversation too, because upon hearing that Loras was going to get medicine for Margaery, Sansa stood up.

 

Loras was the last to join the group. After that, Brynden said, "very good. Thank you all. You're all very brave for doing this", he thanked.

 

They immediately began preparing to leave. It was early in the morning, so they still had many hours of daylight to drive. Now was as good a time as any, so they didn't delay.

 

Catelyn checked up on her daughters who had volunteered. They were both adamant on going, so Catelyn made a mental note to keep an eye on them out there. She was sure that they could take care of themselves, but Cat had seen what people could do out there.

 

She wondered if Ned was still out there. Nobody had seen him since the world ended, which made Cat doubt that he was still alive. She just hoped that he didn't meet the same end as their son. It made her sick in the stomach to think that if Ned was still out there, he wouldn't have any idea what had happened to Robb.

 

Cat was suddenly pulled from her thoughts by a familiar face approaching her.

 

"Sandor", she said curtly.

 

"No hard feelings, right?", he asked rhetorically, "if it makes you feel any better, I stole their truck too", he pointed towards Arya who was saying goodbye to Jon. She could see Rickon behind them, chatting and laughing with Renly's niece, Shireen. Catelyn felt glad that her youngest son got the chance to be a kid again. Outside of this gate was no place for a child anymore.

 

"How is that supposed to make me feel better? You robbed both me and my children", she retorted.

 

He shrugged, "just saying it's not personal".

 

"Why did you come back?", Catelyn questioned him while he was here in front of her. She had been wondering why Sandor had returned to The Eyrie for a while now.

 

"Call it guilt, I guess", Sandor answered, "I felt bad for taking your shit, so when I found your daughter I had to bring her back to you".

 

Catelyn would have thanked him, but he probably didn't deserve that.

 

"Is that it?".

 

"No", he scratched his beard, "I'm coming with you, to find medicine".

 

"Why?", she asked.

 

"There's going to be a fight", he stated as if it was a fact, "you'll need men who can fight. Half of your group are only going on good intentions, and most of them haven't had to kill yet".

 

"Fine", Catelyn replied. She honestly didn't care why Sandor wanted to come with them, as long as he didn't hurt her daughters.

 

The twelve of them piled into three cars, with Brynden driving the one at the front and Sandor in the rear on his motorbike.


	24. Phoenix

Gendry

 

He woke up, coughing and wheezing and gasping for air, only to be met by searing heat and smoke. Ash filled his lungs, which only made his coughs more agonising. It felt like flames were licking his skin, but the hottest fire came from within. He could have sworn that his insides were burning.

 

Gendry stood up and ran through the rubble. Blasting noises deafened him, and his eyes felt damp and raw at the same time. When he made it far enough away, he vomited into a bush and rubbed vigorously at his eyes until he could see again.

 

His coughs started to bring blood, and it took longer than was comfortable for the burning to cool down.

 

It felt like he had died and been reborn again in the flames, but the fact was that he was alive. He would have cheered if it were not for the fact that he was alone. Looking back at the burning trainyard, he was surprised that even he had made it out alive. There was no way that any of the others got that lucky.

 

He didn't have any weapons, food, or water. Gendry only had the clothes on his back.

 

There had been a storm, Gendry remembered. It had given their attackers the cover to sneak up close to them. Gendry had even seen some of the attackers before they threw the first round of grenades.

 

The leader was an ugly man with a bandaged hand and smooth cheeks. The same could not be said for the other men. They all had crosses cut into their faces. Gendry would never forget those faces no matter how long he lived.

 

Firstly they had thrown flash grenades in order to stun them so that they could not run from the real grenades which they threw next. The blast from one of those grenades had blown Gendry back into a wall, where he had hit his head and passed out.

 

That was all he remembered, but basic intuition made it obvious what had happened next.

 

Oddly, Gendry didn't feel vengeful or angry. He only felt tired. It was strange to feel so little emotion over losing all of his friends, but that felt like a lifetime ago, almost like a dream. He purely lived in the present, and right now he needed something to drink to soothe his bone-dry throat.

 

It wasn't long before he found a lake. He drank deep gulps from the crystal fresh waters, and used even more water to wash himself and his clothes.

 

As luck would have it, he spotted a rowboat on the shore of the lake. And when he washed the dust out of his eyes he could more clearly see some cabins on the other side of the lake. Perhaps salvation would come more quickly than expected.


	25. Hospital

Arya

 

Every fucking pharmacy and hospital on Brynden's stupid map was already looted. They found nothing but empty shelves and disappointment.

 

The cars had stopped once again so that they could decide where to go next.

 

"Maybe this hospital hasn't been touched yet", Brynden suggested.

 

"What makes you think it isn't just like the others?", Sandor questioned. Arya was beginning to like Sandor. He was tough, like she was. Well, at least like she wanted to be.

 

"It's pretty secluded, far away from most major towns", Brynden answered.

 

"Who builds a hospital that's far away from people?", Oberyn asked.

 

"It's an aerial hospital. They pick up people with a helicopter when the ambulances can't reach them, bring them here to treat them out of critical condition, and then they get sent to a proper hospital", Brynden explained.

 

Everybody agreed that it would be the best chance at finding medicine, so they all piled back into their cars and Sandor mounted his motorbike, and they set off with the sun beginning to set.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

It was dark by the time they reached the hospital. They nearly waited in the cars until the morning, but by a vote the majority decided to go in now.

 

They were split into three groups: Brynden led the first group with Jaime, Brienne, and Jeyne; the second group had Oberyn, Arys, Loras, and Theon; and finally Catelyn led the third group with Sansa, Arya, and Sandor.

 

The helicopter that Brynden had talked about was still on the roof, which made everybody more hopeful that nobody had raided this place yet.

 

Brynden handed out flashlights to everybody, "grab anything that looks useful. Take any equipment, pills, bottles, syringes... literally anything", he told them.

 

"We will meet back here", Oberyn said, "if anything bad happens, we will run back to the cars".

 

Everybody nodded and expressed their agreements, and then split up into their groups and headed in different directions.

 

Walking through this hospital, it looked like a bomb had gone off in here. Rooms were scattered with rubble and equipment, dead bodies littered each room, and coupled with the night-time darkness this place looked like something out of a horror movie.

 

Suddenly, Sansa rushed away from their group and ran towards a medical storeroom.

 

"Sansa!", mother whispered, "come back!".

 

Catelyn then ran after Sansa, but not before telling Arya, "stay here".

 

Arya rolled her eyes. She had seen the way that Sansa looked at and fretted over that girl Margaery. The girl  _was_ pretty, Arya admitted to herself, but she wasn't sure whether Sansa was in love with Margaery or if she just felt guilty about her getting shot. Either way, Sansa was desperate to get the girl medicine.

 

"Let's have a look around", Sandor said from behind her.

 

"But-"

 

"But what?", he chuckled, "you afraid of disobeying your mother's orders?".

 

"No", Arya replied defensively, getting angry at the blush in her cheeks.

 

"Good, then let's go", he said, leading her down a corridor.

 

They had found some stuff, and all in all everything was going rather well. At least until they heard a gunshot coming from somewhere in the hospital.

 

"Mother! Sansa!", Arya started to panic.

 

Suddenly Sandor was screaming in pain. She turned to see that some man had jumped onto Sandor's shoulder and was... biting into him, tearing flesh out of his neck.

 

Sandor snapped the man's neck and threw him onto the floor, kicking the shit out of his dead body.

 

Another man emerged from the janitor's closet with a handgun. He only managed to get one shot off before Sandor cut him down the chest with his machete.

 

Unfortunately, the shot had gone straight through Sandor's leg, and he was bleeding. A lot.

 

"Take this, girl", Sandor barked, handing her his machete, "I can see it in you. You're a killer. You have to protect the ones you love".

 

"What about you?", Arya asked.

 

"Leave me here. If any more of those cunts show up, I'll kill them. But I'm done; they got the artery in my leg and there's no fixing that, no matter how much medicine we have", he responded, "this is where I die".

 

"Goodbye", Arya said, feeling stupid when he gave her a look which said 'shut up and run'.

 

She ran. She ran as fast as her feet would take her. She heard more gunshots coming from other places in the hospital.

 

Arya remembered that she was supposed to run to the cars if anything happened, but she had to find mother and Sansa first.

 

However, when she turned a corner, a tall man stood in her way. He looked at Arya with hungry eyes and had a wicked grin on his face. He knocked her to the ground and began tugging at her jeans.

 

"No!", she shouted, grabbing Sandor's machete and swinging it with all of her strength.

 

When she looked down at her feet, the man's head was split open. She wrenched the machete out of his skull and without a second thought she moved on.

 

In the next corridor, she saw a gunfight between her people and the ones from the hospital. It looked like Oberyn's group had reunited with Brynden's group, but mother and Sansa were nowhere to be seen.

 

Nonetheless, Arya joined in with the others and used her small revolver to fire some shots at their attackers. She even managed to kill one with a shot straight through the head.

 

They soon retreated from the hospital, thankfully with bags full of medicine. They had taken a lot, but they had left even more behind.

 

Neither Sandor nor Arys were with them, and Arya was yet to see her own family.

 

"Back to the cars!", Jaime shouted.

 

The run back felt much longer than the walk in, and the entire time they were being lit up by gunfire coming from the hospital windows.

 

Loras got shot in the shoulder, making him the second Tyrell to be hit with a bullet, but thankfully some of the others slowed down the help him keep moving.

 

Arya was the first to reach the cars, and was relieved to see her mother and her sister were already there.

 

Sansa practically tackled Arya to the ground with a hug. "We thought you were dead!", Sansa cried into her shoulder.

 

Arya nearly made a snarky comment about how she hated hugs, but she allowed it this time.

 

The sudden sound of a helicopter drew everybody's attention.

 

The helicopter on the roof of the hospital whirred into action and began to take off. Everybody promptly rushed into their cars and drove off at high speed. Looking back, Arya could see Sandor's motorbike sitting there, left behind by its owner who was probably dead.


	26. The New World

Tyrion

 

The men at the gate brought the medicine up, and The Eyrie's doctor, Pycelle, immediately went to work. Hundreds of bodies had to be taken away and burnt, but hopefully no more people would die.

 

Thankfully, Brynden had brought up a couple dozen new residents to The Eyrie. They were much needed in order to repopulate the near-empty mountain fortress.

 

Tyrion greeted them all one by one, taking the time to learn each of their names. Some of them looked at him funnily, but most were polite enough to ignore his dwarfism.

 

But although Tyrion made an effort to make these new people feel welcome, he also had to project strength. Well,  _he_ didn't want to project strength, but father - who was in charge of this place - insisted on making themselves look strong.

 

However, father was up in his office while Tyrion was at the door. People weren't very intimidated by a man who was shorter than their children, and The Eyrie barely had enough men to back him up. In fact, Tywin had only spared two men to accompany Tyrion. One was Bronn, who was scary enough with his crossbow; but Podrick was still a boy and probably couldn't frighten a child.

 

He felt pathetic as the newcomers came through in the double digits, carrying much more firepower than them. Podrick held a makeshift spear that he had made from a sharpened shower curtain pole, and Tyrion wasn't even armed at all.

 

If father had really wanted to make a good first impression, he would have come down here himself with six or seven of his bodyguards. But no, the 'strong first impression' thing was an excuse to make a fool out of Tyrion, and to embarrass him in front of the new people. 

 

Tyrion had to listen to most of the new people ask if their loved ones had made it here. The answer was always the same, and to be honest even if they had made it they were probably amongst the dead being burnt. The questions became tedious, but one boy was memorable: he had asked for his father Randyll Tarly, and when Tyrion said that he wasn't here, the boy had been more happy than sad. It wasn't unrelatable, though. Tyrion would be glad to see his father dead.

 

His father had always been unnecessarily cruel to him, whether it was sabotaging any relationships Tyrion made, or neglecting him so that he could spend more time and effort on Tyrion's two older siblings. And now, the gods must have found it funny to put Tywin literally in charge of Tyrion's life. Tywin was good at running The Eyrie, Tyrion admitted, but he knew that father secretly wished that it was Jaime here instead of Tyrion.

 

At least his bitch of a sister Cersei hadn't made it here. She was probably running her own little power fantasy somewhere else.

 

Tyrion worried for his brother though. Jaime was by far the kindest member of the Lannister family, even if he was bewitched by Cersei's cunt.

 

Speaking of Jaime, Tyrion could swear that he saw his brother at the back of the crowd of new arrivals.

 

Tyrion pushed his way through the people, going towards the back.

 

There he was.

 

Tyrion hugged his older brother. At first Jaime had been confused, but when he realised who it was he knelt down so that they could see each other properly.

 

"You're alive", Tyrion said simply.

 

"I am", Jaime nodded, laughing.

 

"H-how?", he stammered out.

 

"Us Lannisters are tough as nails", Jaime winked, but not at Tyrion. He had winked at a tall blonde woman standing around nearby.

 

"Care to introduce us?", Tyrion asked after a few seconds of awkward silence.

 

"Oh, right", Jaime laughed nervously, "Tyrion, this is Brienne - my fiancée. Brienne, this is my brother Tyrion", Jaime introduced them.

 

"Well, you certainly have a thing for blondes", Tyrion joked, succeeding in making his brother turn red.

 

Brienne looked at Jaime for a clarification on the joke, but Jaime simply tried to play it off by avoiding eye contact with her. _Looks like Jaime hasn't quite fully shared his past with the woman he intends to marry_ , Tyrion thought.

 

"I suppose you'll be wanting to see father", Tyrion broke the silence once again.

 

"Wha...?! Father's here?!", Jaime responded, stunned.

 

Tyrion nodded. "Upstairs in the big office. You can't miss it".

 

"Is...?", Jaime began.

 

"No, don't worry, brother. Our dear sister isn't here", Tyrion answered the unasked question. It was hilarious how Jaime squirmed at any mention of Cersei, as if she being here would ruin his engagement. To be fair, it probably would. Tyrion recounted all the high school relationships that Jaime had ended in order to be with Cersei, even though he knew how wrong it was.

 

Tyrion was nearly tempted to tell Brienne about Jaime's past, but he wasn't that cruel. He would joke about it, but he'd never purposefully put Jaime into an uncomfortable situation like that.

 

"Oh, by the way!", Tyrion addressed the new residents, "don't go past those doors", he said, pointing towards a set of doors at the end of one of the hallways, "that's where the sick people are being treated, and nobody's allowed in there until all of them are cured. We don't want the disease spreading to everybody else".

 

Everybody acknowledged him, at least. When he walked back over to Bronn and Podrick, Bronn joked, "great welcoming party, aren't we? The people love us".


	27. Settling in

Sansa

 

Sansa had never expected to see so much food and water ever again in her life. She also thought that proper beds with pillows were a thing of the past. Not to mention the walls which kept them all safe, meaning that Sansa no longer had to carry a gun or sleep with one eye open.

 

But even though they had all of these resources and materials, Sansa could never make herself happy. Mother, Arya, Bran, and Rickon were all settling in very well, but Sansa found herself spending her days looking at the doors to the medical room, waiting for Margaery to emerge.

 

Dr Pycelle assured her that Margaery was getting better, but she didn't trust that old man. It made her feel better when Dr Luwin went in to help, since he was a friend to the Starks before The Eyrie.

 

On one such day of looking at those doors, she was suddenly approached by the last person she expected to talk to.

 

"Hey", said Theon, taking a seat next to her.

 

"Hey", Sansa echoed, hoping that he'd leave her alone.

 

But when he didn't, she could already feel her temper beginning to rise.

 

"I just wanted to say-", he began.

 

"Shut up", Sansa cut him off.

 

"What?!", Theon responded, startled at the girl who was usually the epitome of politeness.

 

"I know what you're going to say, and I don't want to hear it", she said, staring into his eyes, "I know you feel guilty about Robb, but I don't need you to pity me and try to act like my older brother. You're not Robb, you never were, and you never will be". Sansa was tearing up by the time she finished.

 

Theon opened his mouth to respond, but instead just stood up and walked away.

 

Sansa wiped the tears forming in her eyes and went back to her previous task. Incidentally, the doors to the medical room opened at exactly that moment.

 

She stood up in anticipation, and she wasn't disappointed.

 

Margaery looked a bit pale if anything, but she looked a whole lot better than she did before. Sansa practically ran over to Margaery and threw her arms around her.

 

The next thing she knew, Sansa was pressing her lips to Margaery's. Margaery kissed back with equal fervour, and the only reason they stopped was because Sansa was pressing too hard against her bandaged wound.

 

"What was that for?", Margaery asked, eyes glazed and slightly breathless.

 

"You probably don't remember telling me that you loved me", Sansa replied, making Margaery's eyes go wide with shock. "We'll talk about it later", Sansa giggled, "for now, let's get you to see Loras. He's worried sick about you". 


	28. Princess

Rickon

 

Rickon was ten years old, but he was mature for his age. Sometimes he felt like he was tougher than Bran and Sansa (but never Arya, that girl was crazy).

 

He always hated it when people treated him like a kid. Osha tried to talk to him like he was a baby when she had come searching for him after he ran off when Robb died. But he wasn't a kid anymore. He knew how to use a knife, and he wasn't afraid of killing like other people were. He was mature for his age.

 

And he told Davos as such when he was lecturing Rickon for spending too much time with Shireen.

 

"You're not even her real father!", Rickon snapped at the old man.

 

"Watch yourself, son. Shireen isn't my daughter, but she is the closest thing to family I have left", Davos replied calmly.

 

"What do you know about family?!", Rickon practically growled, "you've never lost someone". Rickon remembered Robb, and how much he wanted to be like him.

 

"I know more about loss than you ever will", Davos responded. The calmness in his words made Rickon angry. He wanted this man to yell at him, so that Rickon could fight back.

 

"No, you don't!".

 

Davos leaned towards him really close and whispered, "I had seven sons before the end of the world. A wife, too. I don't imagine that you know what that's like: to lose all of that. You're still young, Rickon, and I don't deny that you're brave and strong, but you don't know this world yet. You haven't had something like that taken from you. You're right, Shireen isn't my daughter, but I love her like one. So if I say that I want you spending less time with her, you should listen".

 

Rickon didn't know what to say for a second. He was used to people speaking kindly to him, and trying to get him to like them. But Davos was different. He wasn't a suck-up; he just said the plain, hard truths.

 

"Why?", Rickon finally asked.

 

"Why what?", Davos answered with a question.

 

"Why don't you want me spending so much time with Shireen?", Rickon clarified.

 

Davos coughed awkwardly, for once at a loss for words. "Well... um, you're coming to a certain age when...".

 

Rickon knew what he meant. Mother had told him about such changes: growing more hair in new places, his voice going deeper, among other things. Rickon hadn't even thought about Shireen in that way before since she was just a friend. But now that Davos had put it like that, he started to think about her in a different way. She was a year older than he was, so Rickon wondered whether she had been through the same changes.

 

"Ok", Rickon feigned an innocent smile, "I'll do as you say".

 

"Really?", Davos asked incredulously.

 

"Yeah", Rickon said.

 

A good lie, Rickon thought. He would hang out with Shireen tonight, and if she wanted to, he would kiss her. Maybe after that people would think he was a man. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character ages:  
> Ned - 46  
> Catelyn - 48  
> Robb/Jon/Theon - 21  
> Sansa - 18  
> Arya - 16  
> Bran - 13  
> Rickon - 10


	29. Paradise

Catelyn

 

She knew that this place wouldn't be a paradise forever. The man in charge, Tywin, had allowed them all one week to get settled in, but now he had put everyone to work.

 

Apparently he had big plans for this place, and wanted to expand into the mountain using huge drills and dynamite. All he needed was the former. For now, they had to make do with clearing some mountain paths, blocking others, and maintaining the facilities that they already had.

 

Tywin intended to make The Eyrie into a true mountain fortress. If anything, she admired his ambition. If this place could become what he wanted it to be, then she could support him as a leader.

 

But as a man, Tywin was terrible.

 

He bullied his younger son while favouring Jaime to the point of unfairness. No father should be that cruel to one of his children. Catelyn knew that Ned wouldn't even be close to Tywin in that regard. But men like Tywin ruled in this world, while her husband was probably dead.

 

But all of that was out of Catelyn's control. What _was_ her business were the new relationships amongst her children. The last time she had checked, none of her children were in any relationship of any kind, but now nearly all of them were.

 

Bran was infatuated with Meera Reed. Catelyn knew her father since he had been one of Ned's best friends, and she seemed like a very nice girl. Rickon was also playing boyfriend/girlfriend with Shireen. Shireen also seemed nice, but the pair of them seemed a bit too young to be having a meaningful relationship. Maybe in a few years it would develop into something real.

 

The biggest surprise, though, was Sansa. When Catelyn thought that her eldest daughter was in love with Margaery Tyrell, she had only been joking. But apparently that attraction was real.

 

That only left Arya, but she didn't seem to be interested in relationships. She often secluded herself, and usually ran away from doing the jobs that Tywin assigned her. Catelyn would normally find her in one of The Eyrie's more obscure corridors, looking out of the window with Sandor's machete in her hand.

 

None of them were supposed to have weapons, but Catelyn would never tell. She knew that Arya longed to be free of this place, but honestly she didn't know why. The Eyrie was safe, and they never lacked for entertainment. In the evenings, people would hang about in the 'games room', where there were darts, billiards, cards, and even a working TV.

 

There were people here, too. When Catelyn had asked Tyrion how many people were here, he told her that there were around a hundred, although half of them were still being treated by Dr Pycelle in the medical facility - where they still weren't allowed to enter.

 

She heard that there used to be many more people here, but most got wiped out by the disease, or by some raiders who lived in these mountains. Cat vaguely remembered hearing something about them before, and wondered if they would ever become a nuisance.

 

Overall, Catelyn was happy. No matter what problems they had here, it was better than the outside world by a lot. This was a place where her children could grow up and have proper relationships. And who knew, maybe The Eyrie would be at the centre of re-civilisation one day.


	30. The Bull

Gendry

 

It took him a while, but Gendry had finally rowed himself across the lake. Unfortunately, what had looked like safe, secure cabins from the other side turned out to be smoking ruins.

 

Gendry didn't know why he had kept rowing when he saw that this place was destroyed, but something inside of himself made him keep going.

 

Burnt bodies were piled up on the shore, and Gendry had to walk over them to get further into the camp.

 

Whoever had attacked this place, they had done it recently. Gendry recognised blast points from the attack on the trainyard. If he had to guess, he would have put money on the fact that this was done by the same people.

 

He didn't know where the Flayed Men had gotten their grenades from, but wherever it was they had a lot. Gendry hoped that they at least didn't have any more.

 

But he knew this new world. The bad guys always got lucky, and all of the good people were dead.

 

Gendry spent most of the day burying the bodies, and at night he slept in the most intact cabin. He still got drenched by the rain overnight, though.

 

He decided to search around this place while he put his clothes out to dry. He walked around naked, but there was nobody around to care.

 

After a while, he found something that he wished he hadn't seen. In the basement of one of the bigger cabins was what could only be a torture chamber. He even found a pair of dead bodies.

 

Disgusted, Gendry walked away, but not before picking up a machete from a table. He needed weapons if he was going to defend himself in the future.

 

Gendry regretted burying those dead bodies now. It was possible that these people were even worse than the Flayed Men. At least those one evil group had destroyed another.

 

Gendry put his clothes back on and scavenged whatever food and water he could find. He might be alright, after all. But he couldn't shake the feeling that he was somehow being watched.


	31. Prince

Theon

 

He hadn't noticed it until Sansa had pointed it out: he was trying to be like Robb.

 

It had started the moment that Robb had died. Theon tried to be like an older brother to all of Robb's siblings, but none of them had reciprocated his attempts. At least Bran was kind enough to be friendly with Theon.

 

But that was normal. Theon felt as if the Starks were his real family anyway, so he always thought of himself as their older brother. Although, he wondered if they felt the same thing towards him.

 

What wasn't normal was when Theon had tried to kiss Robb's girlfriend, Jeyne Westerling. He had originally just meant to console her, but then he felt like comforting her, and he only knew one way to comfort a girl. He had hated himself when she slapped him across the face.

 

He should have seen it then, but Sansa needed to lay it out in plain words for Theon to finally understand that he'd tried to sleep with Jeyne because he wanted to be like Robb. Nobody else knew about what Theon had tried to do, but his other actions made it clear.

 

Right now, Theon was staring at the ceiling of his room at The Eyrie, with Jeyne Poole curled up naked into his side. Bitterly, Theon thought about how he had ended up with a Jeyne, but not Robb's Jeyne. It made Theon feel inadequate, as if he had tried to copy Robb but could only get halfway there.

 

At best, Theon was friends with Robb's siblings, but never an older brother. He tried to be as charming and witty as Robb, but even the dwarf Tyrion laughed at him behind his back, and sometimes even to his face.

 

Theon came to the slow realisation that he wished Robb were here. He deserved to be at The Eyrie, not Theon. If he could, Theon would trade places with Robb right now. Whatever it was that Robb had gone on that supply run for, it couldn't have been worth it.

 

He could never be like Robb. When Theon had wanted to kill Osha, Robb had chosen mercy. Robb hunted for food to make sure that his friends and family were well-fed, while Theon hunted for his ego and his own personal glory.

 

Theon chose to honour Robb's memory by taking a few lessons from him, but not idolising him; Theon had been doing that most of his life, ever since his own biological family had cast him out. It was time for Theon to find his own sense of character. He would never forget Robb, but he couldn't let himself dwell on what should have been.

 

It could be worse. Theon had a bow that he knew how to use, a safe place to live, and a girl who was falling in love with him. He could make this work. One day he may become a respected leader, and perhaps he could even have a family of his own - a family that would actually love and accept him.


	32. Mountain path

Daenerys

 

There were so many new people to meet here at The Eyrie that Dany hadn't even been able to talk to every single one of them. She had made many new friends, though - for that, she was glad. For the first time in a very long time she didn't feel alone.

 

Not that she had been alone before, but walking on deserted roads and looting abandoned buildings made the world seem empty.

 

Right now she was talking to Arianne Martell, one of her new friends. She had been upset when Dany had first talked to her, because her boyfriend Arys had died while searching for medicine at that hospital.

 

But the more Dany got to know the Martells, the more she found that they were the most cheerful and humorous people ever. She could spend all day with Arianne, making fun of all the boys who tried to talk to them. Oberyn also laughed easily, and not to mention that he was extremely handsome (not that she'd ever tell Jon about that). Even young Trystane was kind and sweet.

 

The one Martell she didn't like, though, was Quentyn. At first, Dany thought that Arianne's brother was just being friendly to her, but it soon became clear that Quentyn was infatuated with her. It would be laughable if it weren't for the fact that he was so obsessed with her, to the point where he was practically a stalker.

 

For example, right now Dany and Arianne were just eating lunch before they had to get back to work, when Quentyn appeared out of nowhere and started talking to Dany.

 

Thankfully, Arianne seemed to notice Dany's discomfort and gently hinted at her brother to leave. "Quentyn, don't you have work to do?".

 

"No, I just finished my shift!", he replied excitedly, "I thought that I'd hang out with you guys", he said, staring at Dany.

 

"I think that we want some alone time", Arianne said, a hint of annoyance showing in her accent.

 

"Are you sure? Because I-", he started, but was cut off when another man walked up to them.

 

"Excuse me, I need your help with something", the man addressed Dany.

 

"Of course!", Dany replied a bit too quickly, promptly walking away with him.

 

They walked towards the front of The Eyrie, up to the main doors which Dany had come through not too long ago.

 

"You looked like you needed some help back there", the man bantered.

 

"Yeah, thanks. Quentyn means well, but he's relentless", Dany laughed.

 

"Name's Jorah, by the way", he introduced himself, offering his hand.

 

"Dany", she replied, shaking his hand. "So, did you actually need my help, or were you just being my knight in shining armour?", she asked, beaming a bright smile at him.

 

"Both, I guess", he mirrored her smile, "I mean, uh... if you don't mind. I don't want to make you work if you don't want to. It's just that I was looking for someone to help me outside, and while you're here...", he stammered out awkwardly, a furious blush appearing on his face.

 

"Ok", Dany nodded unsurely. She just noticed that Jorah was probably crushing on her as hard as Quentyn just was, but at least he wasn't too pushy. Besides, she didn't want to be rude, so she agreed to go with him.

 

Nobody had guns inside of The Eyrie, but the man in charge - Tywin - insisted that all people going out into the mountains should be armed. So Dany and Jorah grabbed a gun each and headed out.

 

"So, what's the job?", Dany asked.

 

"Tywin wants one of the mountain paths blocked, to stop anything from coming through", Jorah answered, "it's not far from here".

 

"Cool", Dany nodded.

 

"Thanks for coming, by the way", Jorah said.

 

"No problem", Dany smiled, "anytime".

 

They walked in silence for a bit, and Dany was painfully aware of Jorah muttering to himself - trying to find the words to say to her.

 

"So, what did you do before?", Jorah asked, finally finding a topic to chat about.

 

"I was a student: history major. What about you?", Dany responded.

 

"Police officer, just like my father", Jorah answered, smiling to himself, "well, just like everyone else in my family really. We found The Eyrie at the start, back when it was just Tywin, Tyrion, and a few others. We were the original muscle of this place, and I can't even keep count of how many times we had to defend it".

 

"Defend it from who?", Dany asked, interest piqued.

 

"At first just from other survivors who wanted to steal from us", Jorah answered, "but after that came the mountain raiders. They live in these mountains, and they're barely people anymore. They didn't even attack us for food or water; they just wanted to kill us".

 

"Why did they stop?", Dany questioned.

 

"When more people started coming here we became too strong for them, and they knew it", he explained, "but if they ever find out how many of us died from that disease..."

 

There was more silence after that. Dany didn't know how to reply, and Jorah went back to muttering to himself.

 

Dany started to worry. If these mountain men came back, then this 'safe place' might not be so safe after all. She could only hope that The Eyrie was strong enough.

 

But from what Dany had seen, she didn't think it was. Brynden and all of his men at the gate had moved back up to The Eyrie itself, refusing to leave its safe walls. They easily had fifty fighters, but they had no idea how many men these mountain raiders had. It could be ten, twenty, or even a hundred. Dany hoped that it was the former.

 

Dany and Jorah arrived at the spot where they were supposed to block the mountain path. It was a narrow trail flanked by two tall rock walls. This was an ideal place to fortify.

 

They spent the better part of that afternoon stacking rocks, and by the time they were done the sun was starting to set. Even though they had spent so much time out here, the stones barely stacked high enough to overshadow a grown man. It was more of a deterrent than a wall, really. It could probably keep a mountain lion away, but any human could easily jump over it.

 

Dany turned around to see that Jorah was staring at her, his eyes glazed in a way that she had seen many times before.

 

"You're very pretty", the words slipped past his lips.

 

"Thanks", Dany replied, eagerly walking away so that she could get back to The Eyrie as fast as possible.

 

Jorah seemed to gather his wits and went to walk with her, returning the conversation back to normal things.

 

"Good choice with the weapon", Jorah said, gesturing to the glock in her leg holster, "I had the exact same one back when I was in the police".

 

"Yeah, I like it. Nothing too fancy, like Theon's bow or Bronn's crossbow, but it gets the job done", Dany said, pulling the gun out and inspecting it.

 

"Do you know how to use it?", Jorah asked.

 

She didn't like what that question implied. "What, are you saying women don't know how to shoot?", she pressed.

 

She felt like her point was put across when Jorah became embarrassed and stuttered out an apology.

 

"I'm a good shot, but my boyfriend is even better. Maybe you'll see him shoot some day", Dany smirked.

 

Jorah was silent for the rest of the walk back.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

The sky was dark when they made it back to The Eyrie, and nearly everybody was sleeping. The guard at the front door informed them that it was after curfew, so they promptly went to their respective bedrooms.

 

Dany couldn't wait to see Jon. She hadn't even seen him this morning, as he'd gone to do his jobs before she had even woken up. And last night he was already asleep by the time she had made it to their bed.

 

She found him just outside of their bedroom, talking to a tall, old man about something. Dany recognised him as Jeor - the man in charge of The Eyrie's defences - and Dany could immediately see the resemblance between Jeor and Jorah. She intuited that Jeor must be Jorah's father.

 

When Jon saw Dany, he ended his conversation and went to hug her.

 

"I've missed you", he said into her ear.

 

She hugged him back, feeling the exact same thing.

 

"How was your day?", he asked.

 

Dany felt like telling him about Quentyn and Jorah. She could tease him about it in bed whilst pinning him beneath her weight and kissing him senseless. She wanted to see how well Jon could fuck her while he was jealous.

 

But she knew where that would lead: the next day Jon would fight the both of them. She didn't worry about Jon fighting Quentyn - he could win that easily. But Dany had seen Jorah move boulders all day. The man was all muscle, and easily a head taller than Jon.

 

So instead, she replied with, "it was ok".

 

"Well", he grinned slyly, "let's see if I can make it any better", he smiled, pulling her in for a kiss.


	33. Killer

Eddard

 

He ran down the street, caked with blood and stinking of sweat. He heard the sound of very distant shouting, meaning that his pursuers were far behind.

 

Allowing himself a moment to catch his breath, he stopped next to a car and drank from the bottle of water he had stolen. He didn't even know who he had stolen from this time. At this point, the number of people he'd robbed and killed went higher than he could count.

 

Shards of glass crunched beneath his boots. The glass came from the rearview mirror of the car. He curiously looked into the mirror (well, what was left of it), and saw something that once resembled a man named Eddard Stark.

 

The person in the mirror had a gaunt face covered with a thick brown beard tinted with red from blood. His hair fell down in tresses towards his shoulders, and his grey eyes looked stormy and dark.

 

He looked away, grunting as he readjusted the backpack slung over his shoulder. He still had a hatchet tucked into his belt, but his guns had been taken from him by some bandits a few days ago. He'd need to find more somewhere. Unfortunately, the people he'd just attacked kept their guns well hidden.

 

Speaking of which, those very people started to appear on the horizon, holding those guns. He spat onto the floor in frustration, and then continued running.


	34. Past crimes

Renly

 

 _Tyrell_. For some reason the name seemed so familiar, but Renly couldn't place where he had heard it before.

 

Renly was in love with Loras - he knew that much. But when he had first heard his boyfriend's surname, a feeling of deja vu swept through Renly's mind.

 

He was currently talking to Loras while they had dinner in the main dining area. Well, the conversation was only really going one way. Thankfully Loras barely seemed to notice Renly's silence as Renly racked his brain to figure out where he had heard  _Tyrell_ before.

 

Usually it wouldn't bother him this much, but for some reason he felt like it was important. Very important.

 

The one-way conversation moved towards family when Loras started talking about his parents, grandmother, and brothers.

 

 _Fuck_.

 

 _Fuck, fuck, fuck_ , was all that Renly could think. The family that Loras was describing... no, it couldn't be... Were the gods so cruel?

 

 _I killed his family_. He remembered it all. Back when Renly was with Stannis' crew, they had crippled Loras' eldest brother, burned down his home, and then executed his brothers outside of that gas station.

 

Dread filled Renly's gut, and it must have showed on his face too. Loras cut himself off mid-sentence and asked if Renly was ok. When the usually chatty and cheerful Baratheon man didn't respond, his boyfriend sat in his lap and pressed a kiss to his face.

 

"Geez, Renly. You look like you've seen a ghost", Loras laughed to try to hide the worry in his voice.

 

"It's nothing", Renly replied unconvincingly.

 

Hurt flashed across Loras' face, but Renly imagined that it was a longshot away from what Loras would feel if he found out that the man he'd been sleeping with had killed his family.

 

Loras was suddenly distracted by something behind Renly. He jumped off of his lap and went to talk to Margaery, who was holding Sansa Stark's hand. Renly allowed himself a small smile at the two girls who were probably nearly as infatuated with each other as Loras and Renly were.

 

But then the reality came crashing back. Renly nearly threw up when he remembered the blood and the fire. Loras would kill him  ~~if~~ when he found out. It was only a matter of time.

 

Margaery and Sansa scurried off to their room, leaving Loras to go back to his boyfriend.

 

Loras took the seat next to Renly and held his hand.

 

"Now, tell me, what is it?", Loras asked, a genuine concern showing in his beautiful eyes.

 

"I don't feel well. Maybe it's something I ate", Renly lied. But apparently the lie was convincing enough, since Loras seemed to believe him.

 

He pressed the back of his hand to Renly's forehead. "Gods, you're burning up, Ren", Loras cooed, "should I take you to Dr Pycelle or Dr Luwin?".

 

"I think I'll be fine", Renly refused, "I just need to get some sleep". Loras nodded and took Renly to bed.

 

Renly was glad that he had bought himself at least one night to get his shit together. Maybe in the morning he would feel less guilty. Renly still wasn't sure whether he'd confess his past crimes. He knew that it would be painful, not only for Renly, but imaginably moreso for Loras. Renly figured that Loras would find out one way or another, anyway.

 

 _But will he?_ , Renly asked himself. There was no way that Loras could find out. Neither Davos nor Shireen would talk about it, and none of them would ever leave The Eyrie ever again, so it wasn't likely that Loras would stumble across some evidence.

 

However, even if Loras would never find out on his own, Renly didn't know if he even wanted to keep such a secret from the man he had learned to love.

 

"Loras...?", Renly called out from his bed.

 

"I'm right here", Loras leaned over.

 

"There's something I need to tell you..."


	35. Roses

Sansa

 

She slumped back against the pillows, and Margaery landed on top of her a few seconds later.

 

"Wow", was all Sansa could say, wiping the sweat from her brow, "I had no idea it could be like that".

 

Margaery laughed that impossibly sweet laugh of hers. "You're adorable, you know that?", Margaery teased, pulling the blanket over them.

 

"Adorable wasn't quite what I was going for", Sansa huffed, pouting.

 

Margaery snorted, "what  _were_ you going for, then?", she asked coyly, but her wicked smile gave away the game.

 

"Well", Sansa began, flipping Margaery over so that Sansa was on top of her, "seeing as we just had sex, I was hoping that I was sexy".

 

They both laughed, and Sansa continued to laugh against Margaery's lips when she pulled her down on top of her. They would have continued if it weren't for the sound of shouting from one of the other rooms.

 

Sansa and Margaery dressed quickly and ran outside to see what the commotion was. But by the time they had made it the fight was already over.

 

Renly laid against the wall with a bloodied nose while Jon, Dany, and Jorah all pinned Loras against the opposite wall. Loras had a knife in his hand, and was swinging it wildly while screaming profanities at Renly.

 

Sansa simply stood there in shock, taking the whole situation in, but Margary was quicker to react and ran over to hold down Loras' arm before he cut anybody.

 

"Loras, calm down! What happened?", Sansa heard Margaery say.

 

She looked over at them, and saw Loras cry tears through puffy, red eyes. "He killed them!", Loras screamed.

 

"What?", Margaery replied, confused.

 

"Willas and Garlan!", Loras clarified, "Renly killed them! Butchered them outside of that gas station!", Loras cried in a voice that was hoarse and raw.

 

Margaery turned and looked at Renly incredulously. "Tell me that isn't true", Margaery said.

 

Renly couldn't meet her eyes, instead looking guiltily at his own feet. "It's true", Renly confessed.

 

Sansa had never seen anger like that in Margaery's eyes before - not even when she had plunged a knife through Cersei's neck. Even so, Margaery didn't make a move.

 

"It's even worse, though", Renly continued.

 

"How can it be worse?!", Loras shouted. More people were coming out of their bedrooms to observe the scene.

 

"When you told me about where you guys were living until some raiders burned it down...", Renly started, "...I think that was us. Stannis killed Olenna, and the rest of us set fire to your place. We thought that you were bad people. If I had known..."

 

Loras went into another fit of rage. Somehow he managed to overpower Jon, throwing him against the wall. Loras even slammed Jorah into the floor, even though the man was twice his size. What Sansa had never expected, though, was for Dany for deck Loras out in one punch to the jaw.

 

Sansa was so shocked by that display that she nearly missed Margaery pick up the knife and lunge at Renly.

 

She tackled her girlfriend to the ground before she could do any damage. "Margaery, calm down!", Sansa bellowed, sounding like father and Robb used to whenever they got angry.

 

"No!", Margaery screamed.

 

Sansa slapped her across the face, snapping her out of her rage.

 

"I'm so sorry", Renly said from behind them.

 

"Never go near me or my brother ever again", Margaery replied coldly.

 

Sensing someone's presence, Sansa looked up and saw a tall, blond man towering over them - Tywin Lannister.

 

"Put this man in handcuffs and lock him away in the vault", Tywin ordered his men. Brynden picked Renly up as Bronn slapped handcuffs onto his wrists. Bronn then pushed Renly along with his crossbow pressed to the back of Renly's head.

 

"Everybody go back to sleep", Tywin addressed everyone, "the situation is under control".

 

Before Sansa knew it, Brynden was taking Loras away too. As she was about to protest, another pair of hands grabbed her, and another of Tywin's henchmen subdued Margaery. They pulled them along, and when Sansa looked back she saw that they were taking Jon and Dany as well. It looked like Jeor had managed to convince Tywin to let his son go. Sansa wished that her own father was here to do the same.


	36. Captives

Arya

 

Arya had slept well last night - probably the best sleep she'd had for a very long time. She didn't have any of those nightmares that usually plagued her.

 

But then she woke up, and found that the real nightmare was being awake. In the main hall she heard raised voices, so she got dressed and went to investigate.

 

Mother was shouting at Tywin Lannister. Arya had never seen her mother so furious. She rarely even took that tone with Arya.

 

"Let my daughter out right this instant!", Catelyn shouted.

 

Arya was confused for a moment. Her half-asleep brain wondered what she was talking about. Arya was right here, wasn't she? But then she realised that mother must be talking about Sansa.

 

"Your daughter broke the rules", Tywin replied condescendingly, "you all agreed to those rules when you walked through my gates. She will receive her punishment, but for now she'll remain in the cells".

 

Arya didn't like how he was talking to mother. She grabbed the machete from the bag on her back, ready to kill Tywin. However, before she could step out of the shadows, a hand grabbed her and pulled her back.

 

"What the fuck?!", Arya cursed.

 

"Don't do anything stupid", her great uncle Brynden responded, "I will try to get Sansa out, but I can't do that if any of you provoke Tywin".

 

"You can't tell me what to do!", Arya hissed.

 

"Of course not", Brynden replied, "I'm only asking you. You  _can_ try and stab Tywin, but you'd be dead before you reached him. Alternatively, you could let me do what I can, and I will do my best to save your sister".

 

"What even happened to her?", Arya asked.

 

"You didn't hear? There was a fight last night. Five people were taken away and locked in the cells", Brynden answered.

 

"The cells?".

 

"Yeah, they're inside the medical facility", Brynden explained.

 

That surprised Arya. Nobody was allowed in the medical facility - another one of Tywin's rules. It was still packed with diseased people, and Dr Pycelle was still treating them.

 

Come to think of it, though, nobody had come out of those doors since Arya had arrived at The Eyrie. The more Arya thought about it, the more she recalled Margaery telling her that story about the doctor at the cabins. She also remembered the story about Cersei. They weren't supposed to tell Tywin (or anyone else for that matter) about that, but right now Arya was tempted.

 

"How are you going to do it?", she asked.

 

"A coup", Brynden answered. That was all she needed to hear. She was in.

 

"Who else do they have imprisoned?", she kept asking.

 

Brynden was awkwardly silent for a moment before clearing his throat and answering, "yeah, they have Loras, Margaery...", he paused again, "Daenerys and Jon", he said slowly, gauging her reaction.

 

Arya's blood boiled. Drawing her machete, she charged straight for Tywin.


	37. Hunter

Eddard

 

People were harder to find as the days went on. More and more groups were dying out, and the number of safe places was decreasing every day.

 

Ned only knew of two places that were still untouched, and they belonged to the two groups that he wanted to destroy.

 

His search for more people and more weapons had proved fruitless, and it made him wonder whether all the killing he'd been doing was worth it. He had nothing to show for it, and he lost count of how many people he killed a long time ago.

 

But did it even matter? Nobody was around to judge him anymore. Ned rarely even encountered people on the road. He personally wondered whether he had become as evil as the men he had sworn to kill, but those thoughts were suppressed.

 

So one day, when he found someone's tent in the forests, he couldn't hold back the self-doubt anymore.

 

He approached the tent with his hatchet at the ready.

 

"Don't move, asshole", a woman's voice said from behind him. He felt the barrel of a gun press against the back of his head.

 

He had been in a situation like this before. Many times, in fact. Whoever this lady was, she'd regret not immediately pulling the trigger.

 

He headbutted her and spun around, knocking her to the floor. His hatchet was raised, ready to strike down. But he knew this woman's face. Somewhere in his past life, he had met this woman before.

 

And that look in her eyes. That was the look that made him question himself - made him doubt his goodness.

 

"Ned?", she gasped, bearing a horrified expression.

 

Nobody had called him that for a very long time. He even wondered whether the man named Eddard Stark was just a dream, but this woman brought it all back. He remembered who he was.

 

Ned lowered the hatchet and pulled her up.

 

"Barbrey", Ned acknowledged. That was the first time he had spoken since that trainyard - another suppressed memory that was now coming back. His voice sounded dry and broken at first, but after clearing his throat and swishing some water, it sounded more or less normal again.

 

He recalled that Barbrey Dustin was the wife of one of his friends from before the end of the world. They used to have barbecues together, watch sports on TV, and talk about the good old days. Ned missed Willam Dustin, but not quite as much as he missed Howland and Benjen.

 

But the people he missed the most were his wife and children. He knew that Robb was dead for a fact, but there was still a slim chance that the rest had lived. But that wasn't likely. He saw what it was like out here. Nobody could survive that.

 

 _Ned did, though_. And who knew, perhaps they were somewhere safe, where the outside world hadn't gotten to them yet.

 

However, the saddest thing was that Ned could not recall the faces of any of his family. He could see Robb's and Benjen's cold, dead, pale faces as clear as day; but if he tried to conjure up Catelyn in his mind, he could not see her. He knew that she had copper hair and river-blue eyes, but the rest was all blank. That made him feel worse than anything else.

 

"It's dangerous out here", Barbrey commented, snapping Ned out of his thoughts.

 

"Safer to stick together", Ned replied.

 

And at that, the two of them silently agreed to take care of one another. Surviving would still be hard, but at least Ned wasn't alone now. And he would start to remember who he was.

 

However, he'd never be able to return to that man ever again, no matter how much he wanted to. The new Ned had shoulder-length hair filled with lice, and a thick, bushy beard. The new Ned wore tattered clothes, and stank of blood and sweat. The new Ned kept a hatchet in his belt, ready to hack anybody's head off.

 

The more Ned thought about it, the more he was ok with killing. If he had to be a monster, so be it. He did what he had to do in order to survive. He wouldn't make up excuses for himself. He would do whatever it took to protect himself, and he would never let the ones he loved get hurt again if he ever got lucky enough to find them.

 

The new Ned also didn't have a family. So that night in the tent, after a hard day of walking, Ned found comfort in Barbrey - the same sort of comfort he used to have with his wife; and he assumed that Barbrey was using him to fill the void that her husband had left behind too. It was messy and primal, and over too quickly, but he got it done.

 

He fell asleep that night in a warm and relatively safe place, with shelter from the wind and rain, and with the promise of food in the morning. He also wasn't alone for the first time in weeks, or was it months now? He had lost track.

 

It was the little things that made him feel better.


	38. Cell block

Jon

 

None of them wasted any time trying to get out. Jon and Dany used whatever they could - belt buckles, zippers, nails - to try to wear down the hinges of the door that locked them into this room.

 

The room itself was a plain cell, with only one door and a few beds for them to sleep on. Dr Pycelle came in during the morning with some food, and told them that they would be put on trial very soon, but for now they had to wait.

 

But they weren't going to wait. They had done nothing wrong, and they wouldn't let themselves be trapped like this.

 

"Guys, stop", Sansa pleaded with Jon and Dany for what must have been the tenth time. "When we are put on trial, we can tell them that we're innocent. If we try to break out they might punish us".

 

They ignored her. Sansa was just too naive to realise that they weren't going to be put on a proper trial. It was just a show put on in order to calm everyone else down; especially Catelyn, Arya, Bran, and Rickon. They might let Sansa out since she has a family here in The Eyrie who would care about her, but Jon would be surprised if he, Dany, Renly, or the Tyrells were ever let out.

 

Speaking of Renly and the Tyrells, Tywin had been stupid enough to lock them in the same room. Maybe he was hoping that they would kill each other. They weren't going to let that happen, though, so they put Sansa in charge of making sure that they didn't fight.

 

Margaery and Loras were useless. They spent all of their time moping. But Jon forgave them, since he remembered what he was like after Robb died. If Jon could get his hands on Robb's killers, he would do the worst kinds of things to them, so he understood what Margaery and Loras were feeling.

 

Renly also refused to help them escape. He kept mumbling something about how he deserved this.

 

Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming from outside the door. Jon and Dany jumped back and tried to make themselves look like they weren't doing anything.

 

But when the door swung open, Jon lurched forward and tried to throttle Bronn.

 

He was holding Arya, and he tossed her inside.

 

Bronn then knocked Jon onto his ass. "That little girl is a prisoner here too", he announced to all of them, "she tried to attack the boss".

 

"You monster!", Sansa screamed, tears running from her eyes. She probably would have attacked him too if it weren't for her having to take care of her little sister.

 

"The doctor will come to look at her injuries", he said, "listen, I'm sorry for doing that to her, but she gave me no choice. Tywin is the guy who feeds us, after all", Bronn apologised.

 

"Get out", Sansa hissed.

 

Bronn left them, closing the door behind him and locking it.

 

Jon ran over to where Arya was resting her head against Sansa's lap. Her eyes were distant and her face was pale. Jon looked down and saw it. The crossbow bolt stuck out through her shoulder. And the blood... gods, there was so much blood...

 

He would kill them all one day. He had made a promise to protect Arya, and he had meant it. Unless someone got to him first, Jon would gut Tywin Lannister himself.


	39. Chains

Brynden

 

It was disgraceful. Unacceptable. Brynden knew that Tywin could be harsh and ruthless, but putting Catelyn, Bran, and Rickon in chains was nothing more than cruel.

 

It only made Brynden more determined to overthrow Tywin.

 

He had been making more allies every day. When they had enough people, they would confront Tywin and force him to step down. So far, Brynden had enlisted Brienne, Davos, Osha, and Oberyn. It wasn't enough though. Brynden would have liked to get more people, but he had to be careful with who he asked.

 

For example, Brynden was sure that Tyrion would help them, but he was Tywin's son after all, so he might rat them out. Samwell Tarly and Edmure could be good options, but the former probably couldn't help much and the latter was kept under close watch by Ilyn Payne: one of Tywin's most loyal soldiers.

 

There was also the problem that Tywin kept all of the guns locked away. Nobody inside The Eyrie was armed except for Tywin's most loyal men, which would make a coup more problematic

 

It angered Brynden that he couldn't do anything yet. This game took more patience than Brynden had, and seeing his family in handcuffs made it even worse.

 

There were others that _might_ help him, such as Jeor and Jorah Mormont, Theon, Dr Luwin, Bronn, and some of the other soldiers from the gate. However, they most likely would not join Brynden's plot, but if he succeeded they would accept the new leader.

 

That beggared the question: who would be the new leader?

 

Brynden didn't want to be a leader. He was never made out for leadership, anyway. Brynden briefly considered putting Jaime or Tyrion in charge, as they would be less cruel than Tywin, but they could also control Tywin's loyalists, who would otherwise need to be killed.

 

Having to think about all of this hurt Brynden's head too much. He sat down and pondered for a minute.

 

The way things currently were, there was no way that Tywin was being ousted. As hard as Brynden could try, he simply didn't have enough supporters. It would take a miracle, or some great external force, for him to save his family.

 

But for now all he could do was wait.


	40. Home

Eddard

 

Ned and Barbrey wandered around, constantly on the lookout for food, water, weapons... anything that could help them survive. They had been lucky over the past couple of days where it regarded food and water, but they didn't have many guns to speak of.

 

Barbrey wielded a pocket knife and a small pistol which only had a couple of bullets left. Ned himself only carried a hatchet.

 

Luckily they hadn't run into any other survivors, otherwise they would have been killed easily. They made sure to be careful - keeping to the shadows, steering clear of towns, taking turns keeping watch at night, etc.

 

But their patience had ran out. Eating berries in the woods and boiling river water wasn't any way to live. They had to find decent food and proper shelter. Ned had looked over every map that they could find, while Barbrey went scouting for anywhere that looked promising.

 

Firstly they had raided a gas station, and managed to come away with a bit more food and water. Next was an abandoned summer camp which unfortunately had nothing left. There was a military base that seemed empty, but they were cautious and decided to stay away from it until they were better-armed.

 

Ned had led them back to the trainyard, but the Flayed Men had been thorough in destroying everything.

 

After days of barely getting by, Ned was losing weight so fast that he could see the shape of his ribcage through his skin. Barbrey looked thin and pale too, and her cheekbones stuck out on her taut face.

 

"I have an idea", Ned said one morning.

 

"What is it?", Barbrey replied.

 

"Do you remember our old neighbourhood?", Ned asked rhetorically.

 

"No!", Barbrey exclaimed, "I'm not going back there! I can't!".

 

"Neither can I, but we have to!", Ned responded.

 

"How? How are you okay with this?", Barbrey questioned, "Willam's dead! Catelyn's dead! Going back there will only remind us of them! Haven't we done enough to forsake them?".

 

"Catelyn Stark was Ned's wife", he said, confusing Barbrey for a moment before he continued, "I'm not Ned Stark anymore. I'm just a survivor", he explained.

 

"I can't...", Barbrey replied meekly, "...I won't give up on who I was. Not yet".

 

"I suppose this is where we say goodbye, then".

 

The hug was brief, and when Ned walked away there were tears streaming down his dirty face, leaving trails where the tears cleaned the skin.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

About an hour later he emerged from the woods into his rural neighbourhood. It looked different from the last time he had been here. People had definitely been through here at least a couple of times. Ned wondered if they were still here.

 

Carefully, he stalked through the streets and moved from house to house, slowly but surely making it to his own.

 

He was about to reach the front steps of his home when he heard a shotgun being loaded behind him.

 

Ned turned and stared down the barrel of a pump-action shotgun. It was being held by a tall man who was wearing a bulletproof vest, had a pistol strapped to each leg as well as a revolver tucked into his belt, a sniper rifle slung over one shoulder and an assault rifle on the other, and a rucksack filled with what could easily be dozens of cans of food and bottles of water.

 

Ned needed all of that stuff.

 

Lunging forwards, Ned knocked the shotgun out of the way and tackled the man to the ground. He couldn't see the man's face, as it was covered up by a hockey mask, but he could see his grey hair. Ned pulled on that hair, making the man scream. Ned shut up those screams by punching him in the throat.

 

**BOOM!**

 

The shotgun blasted. Ned didn't even know who had pulled the trigger, but it didn't matter. He wrestled the shotgun away and threw it to the side. He then rolled onto his back and dragged the man with him, choking him from behind.

 

It was then that Ned realised where the shot had landed.

 

An agonising pain shot up his right leg, making him recoil in agony. His grip on the man loosened for just a second, but that second was enough for him to escape.

 

Ned looked down and saw that his right thigh was bleeding badly. Most of the leg seemed intact, but it didn't look like Ned would walk again.

 

He then looked up, and the man was standing right above him. The shotgun was back in his hands.

 

Ned closed his eyes and waited for the end. His final prayer was to the gods, asking for forgiveness and the chance to see his family once again.

 

**BOOM!**


	41. Old friend

Eddard

 

He was alive.

 

He didn't know how, but he was alive!

 

When Ned opened his eyes, he saw where the shot had come from and who had been hit. Barbrey came out of the woods, aiming her pistol at the man who was clutching his bleeding hand.

 

Ned leaned over to pick up the shotgun from the floor.

 

"Drop your weapons, asshole", Barbrey ordered. The man complied. She then went over and pulled off his mask.

 

"...Rodrik?", both Ned and Barbrey gasped. This man was Rodrik Cassel, one of their neighbours from down the street. The three of them had been good friends back in the day.

 

Rodrik simply grunted in frustration. "Are you going to kill me or what?!", he spat.

 

"No", Ned shook his head, "Rodrik, do you even know who we are? Do you remember our faces?".

 

His silence confirmed Ned's worries.

 

Ned tied him up and took him inside of Ned's old house.

 

When Ned went into his house, he saw that people definitely had been through his neighbourhood since he had left with Benjen and Howland. That seemed like a lifetime ago, but Ned would never forget his promise to Howland - if he ever found Howland's children, he would protect them like they were his own.

 

Meanwhile, Barbrey went through Rodrik's stuff, taking most of the weapons and the lion's share of food and water.

 

"Rodrik", Ned tried talking to the man, "what happened to you? You're not like this; you're not the type of man to kill someone in cold blood".

 

"We've all changed", he responded.

 

Honestly, Ned was tired of this. He left Rodrik to sit there tied up. Ned limped over to Barbrey, who was testing out the new weapons.

 

"Is your leg ok?", Barbrey asked.

 

"Not as bad as I thought it would be", Ned answered, "I can walk, but it'll need to be burned, stitched, bandaged, and I'll probably need antibiotics too".

 

"Well, shit. We haven't got any of that here", Barbrey sighed.

 

"We might", he said, "Catelyn used to have a sewing kit in one of the cupboards. We can use that to stitch up the wound. I also have a hidden bottle of liquor behind the TV which we can use to clean the wound. As for bandages, toilet paper will have to suffice. Let's just hope that the bleeding stops quickly".

 

"And antibiotics?", Barbrey asked.

 

"No, got nothing like that", Ned replied sadly, "we'll need to find those somewhere".

 

"Where?", Barbrey questioned, "we've looted every pharmacy, vet, hospital, and house for miles. It's not like we can look further out, especially with your bad leg".

 

She was right, he had to admit. He could barely limp around the house, let alone go back on the road. He would just have to make do without antibiotics.

 

"What will we do with Rodrik?", Ned asked. As if on cue, they heard crying coming from the next room over.

 

They both went into the room, pointing their newly-acquired guns at Rodrik who had managed to break free of his constraints.

 

But Rodrik made no move to attack them. Instead, he held a framed picture in his hands and cried over it.

 

Ned limped over and saw that it was a picture of Sansa and Beth - Rodrik's daughter.

 

He didn't need Rodrik to explain why he was crying over his daugter.

 

"We've all lost people", Ned said, putting a hand on Rodrik's shoulder, firstly to reassure the man, but also so that Ned could keep his balance. "Come with us, Rodrik. We're your family now. There's got to be something out there. Something more than... this". Ned wasn't very good with words, but they seemed to sway the man.

 

"I'm sorry for shooting you", Rodrik apologised.

 

"I'm sorry for nearly strangling you", Ned quipped. 


	42. Alone

Davos

 

Patrolling the mountains felt less safe for some reason. Each time he went out there he felt like he was being watched. The other men said the same thing too.

 

Things weren't much better inside The Eyrie either. Tywin's henchmen kept a close eye on everyone, looking for any sign of betrayal. Davos had to extra careful, considering that he was part of Brynden's plot to replace Tywin.

 

Davos also had to balance his time to make sure that he took care of Shireen. Before, both Davos and Renly shared the burden of raising Stannis' daughter. But now Renly was imprisoned, so Davos spent a lot of his time caring for her by himself.

 

It didn't help that he loved Shireen like she was the daughter he never had. It hurt him whenever she was disappointed, and on the other hand it could make his day whenever she smiled.

 

Those smiles came less often after they chained up Rickon Stark, though.

 

Against Davos' orders, Rickon had grown closer to Shireen over the past few weeks, and Davos had learnt that the Stark boy had even kissed her. Davos had been furious then, but by the time he had reached Rickon the boy was already Tywin's prisoner.

 

As angry as Davos was, putting a child in handcuffs still wasn't right.

 

Davos felt helpless. He couldn't do anything to guarantee Shireen's (or even his own) safety, and all he could do was patiently wait until Brynden went through with his plot. Davos even considered leaving The Eyrie with Shireen during nighttime when the guards were tired, but after going on patrol duty today he had changed his mind about that.

 

After being at The Eyrie for so long, he had forgotten to appreciate the strong walls and numerous people that kept him safe. Even so, he still couldn't shake the sense of dread that they would be attacked soon.


	43. On the road

Eddard

 

The three of them walked down the empty road. It was midnight, which meant that they couldn't see very far ahead, but it also meant that anybody who would attack them probably couldn't see them either.

 

It wasn't a smart idea walking down a road, but none of them had encountered any other people for days so it was unlikely that they would find people now.

 

Ned had one of his arms around Rodrik to take the pressure off of his bad leg, while his other hand held the shotgun. Rodrik had his sniper rifle slung over his shoulder, and Barbrey was leading the small group with an assault rifle in her hands.

 

They also all had at least one pistol each. Ned hadn't been so well armed since the trainyard. However, his experience at said trainyard had taught him that you could have all the men and weapons in the world, but the only way to truly keep yourself safe was knowing how and when to use them.

 

*click*

 

Ned didn't know whether he had imagined that or not, but by the puzzled looks on both Rodrik's and Barbrey's faces, they must have heard it too.

 

*click* *click* *click*

 

It was coming from the woods, he could tell. And whatever it was, it was coming from several directions. It kind of sounded like...

 

*click* *click* *click* *click* *click*

 

...a gun being cocked. One man emerged from the woods for each click that they had heard. Nine men surrounded Ned, Barbrey, and Rodrik, outnumbering them three to one and also somehow possessing better firepower than them.

 

"Well, this has turned out to be a very bad night for you people", one of them laughed, "let's make this easy. Hand over your shit and tell us about any settlements you know of, and in return we'll give you quick deaths".

 

"Leave us alone", Ned responded, grinding his teeth in anger. The smirk on the man's face combined with the pain in Ned's leg had made his patience run out very quickly.

 

"Or what?", the man leaned in mockingly.

 

"I'll kill you", Ned answered.

 

The nine men laughed.

 

"Alright, enough fucking around", the man declared. He then whistled, gesturing for his men to come forward and take their weapons by force. In just a few moments, Ned found himself completely disarmed, except for the knife and the hatchet in his belt.

 

One of the men slapped Barbrey and threw her against the ground, pulling at her hair with one hand while the other pulled at her jeans.

 

Similarly, another man was trying to force himself into Rodrik's mouth. The other men found it rather amusing. Then came a third man, waving his cock in front of Ned.

 

Ned would not allow that.

 

He took the hatchet from his belt and cut the man's cock off with one quick slash. The screams disorientated the others for a second, but that was all Ned needed.

 

He buried his hatchet into another's skull, taking the man's pistol and riddling two more with its bullets. Ned then grabbed one of the rapists off of Barbrey and snapped his neck. Ned quickly pulled his knife out and slashed Rodrik's assailant's throat, making him gurgle through his own blood.

 

Rodrik carried his own weight when he beat one of them into the asphalt, leaving nothing but a pile of teeth and blood. Barbrey also helped, reacquiring her rifle and littering one more with lead, and then putting the cockless man out of his misery.

 

That only left one.

 

"He's mine", Ned said darkly.

 

The final man feebly pointed his gun at Ned, but he couldn't pull the trigger. His hands shook and a trickle of piss ran down his leg.

 

Ned pushed him to the ground and pressed his thumbs into the man's eyes. It happened to be the same man that had mocked Ned barely a minute ago. Gouging his eyes out, Ned laughed hysterically and relished in the sight of the man's blood running down his hands.

 

By the time he was done, he expected to see Rodrik and Barbrey to look at him in disgust. But instead, they seemed understanding and accepting of the whole situation.

 

They looted the corpses, and promptly continued down the road.


	44. Son

Jaime

 

"You wanted to speak to me?", Jaime asked from the door to his father's office. The room was on the upper level of The Eyrie, and had perfect visibility of the entire mountain.

 

"Yes. Take a seat", Tywin offered.

 

Jaime sat on the other side of the desk, feeling nothing like this man's son, instead more like an employee about to be scolded by his boss.

 

"Let's get straight to the point", Tywin began, gesturing for his guards to leave the room. Once they were gone and had closed the door, he continued, "you've heard the rumours of a plot to overthrow me, haven't you?".

 

"I think someone might have mentioned it", Jaime joked, trying to lighten the mood.

 

"Be serious", Tywin said, "this isn't a matter to joke about. You need to start taking things more seriously, Jaime".

 

"Sorry", he replied.

 

"No, that's not enough!", Tywin boomed, "you are my son! You are going to be a leader some day, and you need to start acting like one".

 

"What?", Jaime responded, confused.

 

"I'm old", Tywin stated, "I can't be in charge forever. When that day comes, you will take over".

 

"I don't want to take over", Jaime refused.

 

"It wasn't a suggestion", Tywin challenged.

 

"Why me?", Jaime asked.

 

"You are my son", Tywin replied, as if that was enough.

 

"Choose Tyrion, then. He's your son, and he's much better at leading than I am".

 

Tywin stared Jaime down with one of his piercing stares. "Tyrion isn't suitable", he said plainly.

 

Jaime sighed and rubbed his temples. He'd had this argument with both father and Cersei many times before. But now Cersei was gone and father was never going to listen.

 

"That woman you're fucking isn't suitable either", Tywin cut in.

 

"Brienne?", Jaime asked.

 

"Yes. You ought to get rid of her. I can find you a much better woman; one who is beautiful and shrewd. Brienne won't suffice as the wife of the man who leads the restoration of civilisation. Right now this place is just a hole in a mountain, but soon we will go out into the world and make it ours again. The savages and killers out there will break beneath us. Beneath you. But Brienne Tarth cannot be next to you when that happens", Tywin went on.

 

Jaime was stunned into silence. Tywin's grand plans for this place were shocking, but not nearly as shocking as what he'd said about Brienne.

 

"Anyway, for now I have a job for you", Tywin carried on, oblivious to Jaime's mounting rage, "I need you to go out there and find out who is conspiring against me. Give me a list of names by the end of the week".

 

"Fuck you!", Jaime spat, "fuck your offer! And don't talk about Brienne like that ever again!".

 

"I see...", Tywin sighed, "well then, you're no son of mine".

 

Jaime had to let that sink in for a moment. He stood up and went to leave.

 

"Where are you going?", Tywin questioned.

 

"Away from here", Jaime answered.

 

Jaime then stormed down the hall, ignoring the guards that tried to block his path.

 

He then took a handgun and an assault rifle from the armoury, put on a jacket, and went out the main gate. He needed some room to breathe, and The Eyrie felt too claustrophobic.


	45. Stranger

Eddard

 

"Drop it", Ned commanded, pressing his shotgun to the back of the man's head.

 

The man dropped his rifle and slowly pulled the pistol out of his belt to place it on the ground.

 

Ned took the guns while Barbrey and Rodrik kept their eyes on the mountains around them - looking for any other people.

 

"What's your name?", Ned asked.

 

"Jaime", the man replied.

 

"Alright, Jaime, this is how this is gonna go: you will tell us where your camp is, or we'll kill you", Ned said.

 

"I don't have a camp".

 

"Liar", Ned snapped. This man obviously came from some place where there was food, water, clothes, guns, and shelter. He looked in relatively good shape, and his hair was trimmed like it had just been cut.

 

Ned lowered his shotgun, instead pressing a knife to the back of Jaime's head.

 

"I won't ask again", Ned hissed into his ear.

 

"Let me show you", Jaime offered.

 

"No, you'll stay here with one of us while the other two scout out your place", Ned denied, "draw us a map if you need to, as long as we know how to get there".

 

Jaime finally agreed to tell them where his camp was. Well, from what he said about it, the place sounded more like a fortress. It was called The Eyrie, and it was apparently well-provisioned and had fifty fighting men and women protecting it.

 

"Let's go check it out", Ned said to Rodrik.

 

"I'll keep an eye on him", Barbrey said.

 

"If we're not back by tomorrow morning...", Ned began.

 

"...I'll put a bullet in his brain", Barbrey finished for him.

 

Ned nodded. "Tie him up, and make sure he doesn't run away. We might need him later".

 

He then proceeded down the mountain path with Rodrik, following the route that Jaime drew on the map. If they could at least get more weapons and a bit of food from this place, then Ned would consider it a success.

 

 


	46. Negotiations

Tyrion

 

Tyrion was simply walking around The Eyrie with Bronn and Podrick when the strangers came knocking on the door.

 

"Pod, find my father", Tyrion told Podrick. He promptly ran off up the stairs to find Tywin.

 

"What are we going to do?", Bronn asked.

 

"I don't know", Tyrion answered honestly.

 

If people were knocking on the front door of a fortress at the top of a mountain, then they weren't likely to be friendly. However, if they were hostile then they wouldn't be knocking at all.

 

Tyrion was almost unsurprised that whoever these people were managed to come up here unexpected. Most of the soldiers at The Eyrie refused to go outside anymore. They claimed that 'they were being watched'. That meant that there weren't any scouts out there to warn of any strangers coming.

 

When Tyrion and Bronn got to the front of The Eyrie, they rallied more people to come and protect them. Bronn had his crossbow and the two guards at the front - Meryn and Addam - had assault rifles, but Tyrion was unarmed.

 

"Open the door", Tyrion told Bronn.

 

"Are you mad?!", Meryn spat, "we don't even know who these people are!".

 

"I think I can handle it", Tyrion shot back.

 

Bronn opened the door, revealing two heavily armed men standing right there. One was old, and had thin white hair and a white beard to match; despite his age, the man looked rather threatening. The other, though, was more menacing. He was younger, but not by much. He had brown hair which fell to his shoulders, and a thick beard which was starting to get peppered with strands of grey.

 

"Who are you?", Tyrion asked.

 

Instead of getting a response, the two men pointed their guns at Bronn, Meryn, and Addam.

 

"We'll talk after you put your guns down", the younger man stated.

 

Tyrion gave a look towards his three men. They lowered their guns.

 

Their visitors, however, did not.

 

"We want what you've got", the man started, "guns, food, water... anything useful".

 

Tyrion had to laugh at that. "I don't think you understand the situation, friend..."

 

"I'm not your friend", the man cut in.

 

"...do you have any idea how many people we have in here?", Tyrion continued.

 

"I only see four", the white-haired man said.

 

"You're smarter than that", Tyrion replied, "what's to stop us from killing you right here?".

 

They both cocked their guns.

 

"I see...", Tyrion lowered his head, trying not to provoke them.

 

"We can wait", the younger man spoke after an uncomfortable silence, "as long as we get our stuff".

 

"Let me go through your logic again...", Tyrion said, "...what do you expect from this? Do you  _actually_ think that we're going to give you anything? You have me convinced, considering that you'll shoot me otherwise, but it's not up to me. I'll ask again: what's to stop us from killing you?".

 

The man smiled a yellow, crooked, evil smile. "You  _could_ kill us", he chuckled, "but if you do, your friend will die".

 

"My friend?", Tyrion replied quizzically.

 

"We have one of yours. A man named Jaime. Do you know him?".

 

"Shit", Tyrion breathed.


	47. Family

Eddard

 

Ned and Rodrik went back to Barbrey.

 

They had negotiated a deal with the people in the mountain fortress - they would trade their man in return for supplies. Those people promised a duffel bag of ammo, new clothes, medicine, and enough food and water for a month. If they gave them any less, Ned would put a bullet in Jaime's head.

 

"What's going down?", Barbrey asked as Ned and Rodrik approached.

 

"They're coming here in half an hour to make the trade", Ned answered, "this is a good spot. I'll be on the mountain path with Jaime, Rodrik can hide behind those rocks, and you will go up on that ridge with the sniper".

 

"Are we going to kill them?", Barbrey had to ask.

 

"Maybe. Depends on how the trade goes. If they give us what we want, then they get to go back to their beds tonight. But if they try to fuck us over then they'll all die", Ned stated.

 

"Sounds good", Barbrey responded.

 

They began their setup immediately. Jaime was blindfolded, gagged, and tied up by the wrists for good measure. Ned stood in the middle of the path behind Jaime, with a pistol pressed to the hostage's back.

 

Rodrik was to Ned's side, ducked beneath the rocks in such a way that Ned could see him but anybody coming down the path could not. If Ned looked hard enough, he could just about see Barbrey at a slightly higher elevation with her sniper pointed at the path.

 

The people came about five minutes later, carrying bags filled with the supplies.

 

There were four of them. Three of them Ned recognised from earlier, but the fourth at the back looked too familiar...  _where had Ned seen him before?_

 

"Where's your friend?", the man with the crossbow asked.

 

Ned decided to ignore his question. Instead he presented Jaime and shoved him forward.

 

"Fair enough", the man shrugged, throwing a bag at Ned. The other three tossed bags as well.

 

"Is it all there?", Ned questioned.

 

"Ned...?", he heard someone say.

 

Ned's attention snapped towards the fourth man. He stepped forward with wide eyes and a shocked expression on his face.

 

"Brynden?", Ned said.

 

There was a moment of recognition between the two men, but Ned quickly remembered the situation he was in.

 

"You have your man, and I have my supplies", Ned nodded at the men, "glad we could work things out".

 

Three of them walked away, but Brynden grabbed Ned by the arm.

 

"Ned, wait!", Brynden exclaimed, "your family..."

 

The sound of a sniper shot rang through the air. The next thing Ned knew, Brynden fell dead to the ground.


	48. Reunion

Eddard

 

One of them had raised his gun and pointed it at Ned. Thankfully Rodrik came out from behind his rocks just in time to put the man down before he could fire a shot.

 

The two others surrendered.

 

Ned turned towards where Barbrey was, swinging his arms and shouting, "NO!".

 

He then turned to the two other men and said, "what are your names?".

 

The man with the crossbow refused to answer, but thankfully the other one was more malleable.

 

"My name is Addam. This is Bronn", he answered.

 

"And who's the man we just killed?", Ned asked.

 

"Meryn", Addam replied.

 

"Fuck...", Rodrik mumbled from beside him, "...what do we do now?".

 

Ned thought about it for a moment. "Follow my lead", Ned said.

 

He then pointed his gun at Addam's head.

 

"You're taking us back to your place", Ned stated.

 

"What?! Why?!", Addam responded.

 

"The lad's got a point", Bronn finally spoke, "you just killed two of our men. Why the hells would you want to come with us?".

 

"Brynden said something about my family. Do you know anybody in there by the name of Stark?", Ned demanded.

 

Bronn and Addam shared a look.

 

"Um...", Bronn mumbled awkwardly, "you wouldn't happen to know a Catelyn Stark, would you? Or a Sansa, Arya, Bran, or Rickon?".

 

"Tie them up", Ned said to Rodrik and Barbrey - who had just arrived.

 

Ned, Barbrey, and Rodrik then marched Bronn, Addam, and Jaime back to their fortress. About halfway up the mountain, they realised that they had forgotten the bags of supplies. They felt like idiots for forgetting them, but it was unlikely that anybody else would find them.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

When they made it, Ned knocked on their large front gate.

 

The dwarf opened the door just like he had done before. When he looked at them, he sighed and said, "seven hells, Bronn. You had  _one_ _job_. At least you brought Jaime back, I suppose".

 

Ned aimed the shotgun at the dwarf's face. "I want the Starks. Catelyn, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon. Hand them over now or your people die".

 

"You're just full of threats today, aren't you?", the halfman teased.

 

Ned was already tired of this shit. He bashed the end of his shotgun against the dwarf's face: breaking his nose.

 

"Fuck!", he yelped in pain.

 

Ned was about to demand his family again, but then he saw _her_ inside.

 

He locked eyes with Catelyn. The handcuffs around her wrists did not escape his notice, and the survivor that he had become wanted to do nothing less than kill all of these people for putting his wife in chains, but the man that Ned once was made him lower his gun and made his eyes water.

 

"Cat...", he breathed.


End file.
